Pokémon: A New Evolution
by SmashUniverse64
Summary: A seasoned trainer almost meets his end when he falls from Mt. Coronet's cliffs, but he saved by his Zoroark, who had awakened a mysterious force within his Keystone. When he wakes up, he finds that he has been transformed into a human-Zoroark hybrid, and a female hybrid at that! With help from his Pokémon, he sets out on a journey to return to his human form and find answers.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: ...and then you die.

* * *

"Oh, Arceus..." The trainer coughed out as he lied at the bottom of a deep chasm in the collection of cold plains that Northern Sinnoh consists of. He had been scaling the great Mt. Coronet in the hopes of reaching the top, the legendary Spear Pillar. It had been a treacherous journey, one filled with long hikes and vicious battles with the native Pokémon of the mountain. He had prepared himself for this expedition over the past few weeks, stocking up on various medicines and remedies at the local Pokémart. Aaron was sure that he was ready for the challenges that awaited him.

"Heh..." He chuckled grimly, staring at the growing pool of blood beneath him. "And it was a little shove that killed me in the end," he remarked cynically. He had already lost a lot of blood and a thought occurred to him suddenly.

"Oh. I can't forget about you..." He weakly muttered as he weakly reached for his belt and pulled off a black Pokeball with two yellow lines on it's upper hemisphere; an Ultra Ball. He grasped it and, with a grunt of pain, threw the ball into the air. With a flash of a white light, an inhuman creature materialized at the bottom of the cliff. A bipedal fox-like entity stood over the trainer, its long red mane almost touching the ground. Any trainer would easily recognize this creature as a Pokémon.

" _Master,"_ a voice said within the trainer's mind. _"What is-"_ The creature finally looked down and gasped at the sight of its incapacitated master. _"Master!"_

The creature knelt down and supported the trainer's back to allow a small amount of comfort. The fox's eyes began to get wet as it examined the trainer's body. _"Oh, no... What happened to you?"_

The trainer looked back up at the creature and smiled. "Took a bad fall. Don't know if I'll be able to make it," he weakly whispered. The creature's face hardened at his words.

" _Didn't you bring some kind of medicine?"_ At the trainer's nod, the creature grabbed the travel bag and dug through vehemently. After about thirty seconds, the creature's eyes became downcast.

" _Nothing for humans! Damn it, where did all of the general first aid go!?"_ The concerned companion exclaimed. The trainer smiled once again and slowly raised an arm to place his hand on the creature's own right forearm.

"Remember?" he enquired, quickly losing his voice. He started coughing wildly, spitting blood onto his shirt and the ground. The creature tensed, its expression showing desperation. "Back on the path?" he wheezed out, reminding his vulpine comrade. The creature looked up for a moment, its eyes widening and filling with clarity.

* * *

In the shadows of the woods, a dark creature moved swiftly through the underbrush, darting and weaving through branches and leaves. The creature resembled a fox, but looked much more menacing. Its grey and black fur blended into the darkness while it moved like a ghost, even in the sunlight above. A long, mottled mane trailed behind it, colored like fresh blood with black tips. Its wickedly sharp claws matched the color perfectly. A bright green bangle tied the bottom of its mane down to prevent it from flying everywhere, a genius stealth measure. Its eyes held a certain predatory glare that could scare the pants off of a seasoned trainer. This creature was an apex predator, its mouth curled up into a fanged smile as it neared its prey.

" _Ah, there you are!"_ Zoey said as she finally located the scent of the particular item she was looking for. She barreled through the woods with a dopey grin on her face as she continued to track it. Her master would say she looked ridiculous, but she didn't care about that now. She was going to get something sweet.

She rounded a corner and her eyes widened. Right there before her stood a small tree, from the branches of which sprouted a pear-like fruit that made her mouth water.

A whole patch of Sitrus berries. And they were all hers.

The Illusion Fox Pokémon leaped at the bush with a ravenous hunger and a toothy grin. She snatched a berry off of a branch with precision accuracy and in one fell swoop she rolled onto the ground and sunk her teeth into it. _"Oh, Arceus, this is the best!"_ Sitrus berries were primarily used for their medicinal properties, as they were able to heal a wound almost as effectively as a Super Potion spray, with the literally sweet bonus of their juices possessing more healing properties than Oran berries.

Zoey would tell you that the berry's primary purpose was being delicious, and it served that purpose very well.

So for a while, Zoey sat munching on the Sitrus berry, gleefully unaware of anything except for the sweet and slightly bitter taste. " _Ha, and this isn't the only one._ " She looked over to the bush and saw at least a half dozen more Sitrus berries hanging from it. She smiled deviously. _"Oh, I'm gonna get as fat as a Snorlax, but it's completely worth it!"_

"Zoey!" A voice echoed through the small woods. Zoey immediately jumped to her paws. Her expression became serious almost immediately, dropping everything at the sound of her master's call. Before she took off she grabbed some berries and stuffed them into her mane. Never know when they could be needed.

Zoey dashed out of the woods and ran back to the base camp which was situated further up the mountain trail. The tent came into view and when she passed it she gasped at the sight that she was presented with. Her trainer, Aaron, was trying desperately to heal an Eevee. Zoey noticed that the Eevee was covered in its own blood, a rather large gash visible on its belly. It moaned softly in its pain, barely conscious from all the blood loss. Zoey winced at the sight. She could feel every ounce of that poor kit's pain like it was her own. After all, she knew how those kinds of wounds felt.

Aaron turned and waved to her. "Zoey, thank Arceus! Get over here and help me with this!" Zoey nodded and rushed over to the Eevee, which Aaron was frantically applying bandages to.

"We are almost out of bandages. I don't know what we're going to do after that." Zoey's ear twitched and then she gave a reassuring smile.

 _"I think I've got the solution for that,"_ she said through her telepathic link. She reached into her mane and pulled out four Sitrus berries. _"Look what I found on my little hunt,"_ she informed her kind master. When Aaron saw the berries, he couldn't resist to fist pump.

"Nice find, Zoey. I think you might have just saved a life." Aaron says, congratulating his friend. Zoey grinned at the praise and handed him the delicious healing fruits. A selfish part of her was sad that she wouldn't get to eat them, but she told that part of herself to shut it whilst ripping it to shreds with a well-placed Shadow Claw. _Woah_ , she thought. _That was a dark train of thought._

Aaron took the berries and slowly moved one toward the dying Pokémon on the ground before him. He placed it right next to the Eevee's mouth. It stirred slightly before taking a small nibble.

The effect was immediate. The Eevee perked up a little as its wound closed up a little. The blood stopped actively flowing out of it. This prompted Aaron to continue feeding the little Eevee, who accepted the rest of berry with growing gusto. After three more berries, the Eevee was as good as new. The wound on its belly was completely healed, and it didn't even leave a scar behind. It stood up, bounding around the camp in celebration. Aaron couldn't help but laugh at the Pokémon's behavior.

Zoey stood to her full height and walked over to the Eevee, who jumped up and down happily when she neared. The Eevee gave a little bow that Aaron found absolutely adorable.

( _"Thank you so much for that. If it wasn't for both of you, I probably would've been dead!"_ ) The Eevee stated. Zoey easily recognized the language of the Pokémon, although Aaron wouldn't be able to understand it. They had just saved a child, as evidenced by its voice. She knelt down and patted the top of the young Eevee's head.

 _"No problem, kid. We were happy to help."_ Zoey replied. The Eevee smiled and wagged its tail. It ran back over to Aaron and he, capitalizing on the chance, scooped up the Eevee up in a hug. After a moment of snuggling, Aaron let the Eevee go and it looked over to Zoey.

(" _Tell him I said thank you for saving me._ ") the young Eevee requested. Zoey nodded and stuck her hand out, raising one claw straight up. It looked like what a human would call a thumbs up.

 _"Gotcha."_ The Eevee thankfully understood the gesture. With a little wave of its paw, it bounded off into the trees.

* * *

Zoey snapped back into reality and looked back down to her trainer. _"But... W-we can do the same for you. R-right?"_ she stuttered out, tears now starting to flow from her eyes. Aaron lay quiet now, his voice losing its strength.

"I... think it's too late... for that," he whispered. Zoey realized in horror that he was losing his grip on her arm. She lurched forward, shoving her face into his own.

 _"No! You can't leave me yet! I made a promise after that day, and you aren't going to make me break it!"_ she screamed. Aaron barely acknowledged the words as he drifted into unconsciousness. He would be dead soon if nothing was done. She threw her whole body on top of Aaron's own, and she sobbed uncontrollably.

Zoey, her emotions now out of control, threw back her head and released scream of pure anguish. She slammed down a paw, only to flinch when she heard a crackling sound. She moved her paw out of the way. Her eyes widened at the sight.

Aaron's Keystone inside the Mega Ring was glowing brightly, pulsating with an otherworldly white light. Zoey straightened, looking cautiously. _"What is going on? I thought this thing only reacted to Pokémon that hold one of those Mega Stones."_

 _"I wonder what would happen if I just..."_ She reached her paw out and tapped the Key Stone.

Zoey didn't even have time to blink as an orb of energy launched over her and her dying trainer, absorbing them inside. A mysterious force passed through her body, and in seconds Zoey was out cold.

* * *

His mind was spinning. He was sure that he was going to die. In fact, he was dead. Right? _Then what am I feeling right now?_ Strange sensations were felt across his entire body. It felt... _alien?_ _Is that the right word for this?_ His mind pondered these going-ons for what felt like days.

 _"Girls. GIRLS!"_ His dulled mind heard a voice. A familiar one. Telepathy obviously. A Pokémon. It finally clicked in his head. Zoey. His felt a slight tingling in his legs and he shifted them a little. It felt scratchy, itchy even. In fact, he felt a little itchy all over.

 _"He's waking up! He's waking up!"_ He heard Zoey again. He forced his eyes to opened a little. The light of the evening above stung, but he had to see her again. He realized he was laying on something cushioned. Did Zoey manage to save him?

He heard the sound feet approaching him, accompanied by several other voices.

"Oh, thank goodness! I was so worried. Especially since..."

"I knew Aaron would make it through. The difficult part will be breaking to him what happened."

"Him? Does that term even apply anymore? Whatever the case, 'he' is gonna be in for a big surprise!"

Aaron understood all of the voices perfectly. He was sure he had never heard them before in his life. But why did they sound so familiar to him? The blur in his vision was lessening by the minute. He forced his eyes open wider. He just needed to see her.

Finally, there she was. As soon as he saw her, he could stop a smile from showing even in his numb state. When she turned and saw his eyes staring right at her, she gasped and jumped back a little. Huh? That was a strange reaction. What could be the matter? For all he knew, she just saved his life!

 _"Uh... Aaron. You're... awake,"_ he heard her say, before three other figures walked into view.

The first to enter was Sparks. She was an Ampharos with a slightly stocky build. Aaron had found her as a Mareep all the way back from his journey in Johto. She was one of his oldest friends. Yes, friends was the term that Aaron used. He realized very early in his journey that just having powerful Pokémon won't get you anywhere.

In Sparks' case, Aaron had adopted her from the Daycare because her trainer had left her there, forgotten completely. She had isolated herself from the rest of the Day Care Pokémon, unable to stand the fact that they had trainers that always came back for them, while her trainer had all but abandoned her. He had named her Sparks mostly because whenever she got adopted, she jumped into his arms and caused a huge static build up, shooting electricity out of her wool. Aaron had gained a huge resistance to electrocution just from all the hugs they had. Needless to say, Sparks was always hyper, bounding around like a fool, jumping all over Aaron when he stood still, and generally always being happy.

The next to enter was Rin, a strong and muscled Dragonite. She had been an interesting case. After an expedition into the Safari Zone in Kanto, Aaron found a curious area in the back of the enclosure. A group of Dratini, led by a large Dragonair, were nesting atop a rock that was easily visible from all around the zone. Aaron had taken interest in studying this phenomenon, as Pokémon in the Safari Zone were known to mingle and play, never staying in the same area for too long. This group of dragons though were strangely secluded.

Aaron began communicating with the Dragonair. At this point in his journey, Aaron had gained a natural ability for understanding Pokémon. He couldn't always get exact words, but the emotions were always there. The Dragonair at the Safari Zone had all the emotion of a brick. She was extremely prideful, feeling the other Pokémon inferior to herself and her fellow dragons. She was even hostile to him at their first meeting, but managed to hold a conversation. Nevertheless, Aaron continued visiting her. Something of a bond began to form as Aaron began to give food and attention to the Dratini in her group.

Then one day, a terrorist group known as Team Rocket attacked the Safari Zone. It was an attempted mass kidnapping. When Aaron saw the fire coming from the zone, he took off to help fight the Rockets. When he got there Dragonair was trying to defend her group. A Dratini had been backed into a corner, along with a baby Nidoran. When a Rocket member tried to capture them both, Aaron tackled him to the ground. The Nidoran and Dratini embraced tightly as Aaron wrestled with the Rocket member, managing to knock him out. This was the moment that changed the Dragonair. She flew over to Aaron and stated that she would help him fight the Rockets. With Aaron's training skill and Dragonair's power, they foiled Team Rocket's plan and saved the Safari Zone. Afterwards, the Dragonair decided to go with him on his journey. She told her Dratini to mingle, have fun, and don't separate themselves simply because of their status.

Aaron decided to name his new friend Rin, after the ancient queen of Cameran Palace. She rather appreciated that name, as she continued to hold a royal air about her, even in evolution into a Dragonite.

The last to enter was Blaze, a Blaziken who was about as tall as Aaron was. She was technically Aaron's first Pokémon, and boy was she a handful. Professor Birch had warned a 10-year-old Aaron that Fire-type Pokémon were the most difficult to train. He was definitely right. Even as a Torchic, Blaze outright didn't trust Aaron, sometimes using moves he had not even commanded. They had lots of shouting matches with each other, all ending with a temporary truce. Aaron just didn't know how to get Blaze ready for battles whenever they clashed like they did.

Whenever they reached Roxanne's gym, Blaze and Aaron went in completely unprepared, and still fighting each other. Needless to say, they lost horribly against Roxanne. Blaze became incredibly depressed after this. She was sure she had the power to do it all on her own. Blaze and Aaron sat outside one night and just talked. Well, they talked as well as a Pokémon and a kid could. Aaron promised Blaze that if they just worked together, they could easily beat Roxanne. Blaze was doubtful, but Aaron said he would train with her every step of the way. And train they did.

A few days later, Blaze and Aaron re-entered the gym as partners, not enemies. They breezed through the lower trainers and in the fight against Roxanne, Blaze evolved into a Combusken. With this transformation, the battle quickly ended in Aaron and Blaze's favor. They both celebrated afterwards, embracing each other and taking turns holding the badge. They also ate celebratory McDonphan's burgers, although Blaze insisted that she deserved two.

Years later, Blaze still retained her stubborn hotheaded nature, although Aaron had bonded with her a lot over the course of their journey. Battles were where Aaron and Blaze matched wavelengths on, getting really into their respective roles. Aaron still trained with Blaze, and he even was becoming better at sparing with her, although he knew she could destroy him with the amount of power she really had.

Aaron smiled at the memories of his friends. They didn't seem to be as thrilled to see him as he was. Rin and Sparks looked at him oddly, shifting awkwardly when he looked at them. Blaze had a talon over her mouth, seemingly repressing something. This again. What's up with all of them? Zoey turned and looked at the gathered group of Pokémon, speaking in telepathy.

" _Don't. Say. Anything_." Rin and Sparks nodded silently and Blaze slapped her other talon over her mouth. " _Alright, Aaron. You're not dead, but... something happened to you. You're okay, but just take everything slow._ " Aaron looked at her quizzically before finally gaining the will to speak.

"What do you mean?" an unfamiliar voice said in a high-pitched tone. His face quickly changed to one of surprise. "Who said… that?" He panicked as the words left his mouth. That wasn't his voice, but it did come out of his mouth. "What happened to me?" He tried to lift his right hand up. And then promptly wished he didn't.

A furry black arm entered his view. At first he thought it was Zoey's arm because of the rather pronounced red claws at the end of it. He realized in growing terror that it was responding to his commands. Another furry arm rose up. It was his too. Suddenly his ear twitched. Human ears don't twitch. "Girls, what the hell happened to me?!" Aaron shouted in his new voice.

Blaze sputtered, before completely bursting out into laughter. "Who are you callin' girl? By the way, nice rack." Aaron's eyes were as large as dinner plates as he stared at the laughing Pokémon before him. He understood everything she just said, just like English. Aaron unconsciously looked down and saw boobs.

Boobs. Hanging from his chest. Covered in black fur. Completely naked. Two claws unconsciously traveled up and fondled them. They bounced and squished together like two beach balls being thrown against each other. Aaron's eyes traveled down and saw a slender torso covered in grey fur. Long flowing red hair lay beneath him, looking very big and mottled. Worst of all, there was a very noticeable lack of feeling between his legs.

Aaron's breathing stopped and his eyes rolled back into his head. He was out cold.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Rude Awakening

His mind sat silent for a while, slowly rebooting from the sheer trauma that he had endured over the last hour or so. But when conscious thoughts began to form, he didn't wake up. In fact, it was quite the opposite.

He dreamed.

A landscape appeared in the infinite space of his mind, each and every detail being created by his own memory. As he sat in the center, a dense forest appeared around him, leaving a small clearing in the very center. A sea of clear blue fluid, almost as vibrant as the noon sky, surrounded the new landmass: an island, to be specific. The sky above filled in with blackness, being dotted with thousands of stars, but one area of the sky remained as white as his blank dreamscape.

And that's when he opened his big blue eyes. The first thing he saw was the huge sphere that hovered over his form. For a moment he just laid there, staring up at the majestic celestial object in the sky without a care in the world. But his eyes tracked a shadow that drifted out from behind the moon and it appeared to be getting larger.

"What is this? A Pokémon?" He suddenly heard in his mind. "No... No, this can't be!" The mysterious voice exclaimed. The shadow drifted until it was longer visible from his position on the ground. "Aaron, is that you?" The surreal voice enquired.

Aaron slowly rose off of the ground and got a look at the form before him. "Ah, Cresselia. How have you been? Still picking fights with Darkrai?" Aaron enquired, glad to see an old friend.

Cresselia's eyes widened in shock. "It really is you! What happened to your body? You look very much like a Zoroark…" She stated as she examined him thoroughly. Cresselia blushed as she gave Aaron's chest a look over. "A _female_ Zoroark." She says surprisedly.

Aaron looked down at himself and immediately started hyperventilating but he slapped his paws over his eyes until his breathing returned to normal. "Yeah, it seems like I am." He said drearily. Cresselia floated over to the human-Pokémon hybrid with a look full of concern.

"I take it this wasn't intentional." Cresselia ponders. At Aaron's nod, Cresselia continued to look him over, casting out a beam of light onto Aaron's body. "Interesting," she comments. "It appears that you have a mixed biology between human and Zoroark. You may have the fur and claws, but you still have a human body structure. Those certainly wouldn't be there if you were completely Zoroark in biology." Aaron's face turned Cheri Berry red when he felt an unseen force grab his breasts.

"Don't do that!" Aaron shrieked, cupping his breasts in his claws and turning away. Cresselia giggled at her genderbent comrade's embarrassment.

"Well, if you're planning on restoring your previous form, you'll have to accept this new form as your own and be comfortable in it."

Aaron's face was a brilliant red as he stared down at his… "equipment" for lack of better words. But instead of freaking out again, Aaron sighed with contempt.

"You're right, Cresselia." Aaron admitted. "I'm still gonna find a way to change back, but I can't lose my mind over something I can't change right now. First things first: I need to wake up and find out what my Pokémon are doing." He looked up at Cresselia. "Do you have any ideas on how this happened to me?" Aaron questioned. Cresselia closed her eyes in contemplation.

"I can ask the Council when the next time comes, but I'm afraid I myself have no knowledge of anything like this ever happening. The world has changed a lot in the last few years however. This could be something completely new." Cresselia looked sad for a moment and said, "I'm sorry that I can't help you, Aaron." Aaron smiled.

"Oh, come on Cressy... It's silly to think I'd be mad at you," he jokingly remarked. Aaron walked across the dreamscape and embraced Cresselia tightly. Cresselia giggled at the mention of her little pet name.

"You're still as much as a softy as you've always been," Cresselia snickered.

"And you're still just as cute as ever," Aaron said as they broke the hug. The dreamscape around them was now changing colors, a signal which both of them knew well.

"Looks like you are about to wake up." Cresselia turned and began to float out into the distance. "Goodbye, Aaron! I will tell the Council about this!" Cresselia shouts at Aaron as he fades out. Aaron waved with his clawed hand as Cresselia left his dreamscape.

"See you again soon!" Aaron exclaims. The grass beneath Aaron's feet began to fade as a white portal manifested at the center of the dreamscape. He heard various noises coming from portal.

"Well, here goes nothing," he muttered. Aaron walked toward the portal, covering his eyes as the light emanating from the portal grew blinding. As he was enveloped by the light, he heard distant voices getting closer and closer until…

* * *

Aaron opened his eyes to the light of a setting sun. His Pokémon gasped at the sudden awakening, but Aaron had been expecting that. He sat up and waved groggily to the three Pokémon before him.

"Good morning, girls." He took the time to get a glimpse of where he was. He was laying on some blankets under a patch of trees. He could see the edge of a cliff just a little walk away. When he looked back to his Pokémon, Aaron noted that Zoey wasn't with them. Where had she gone?

"Aaron!" Sparks cried as she leapt at Aaron with her arms wide. Aaron's eyes widened, not because he could understand the Pokémon tongue perfectly, but because of the realization of what was about to happen. Aaron braced himself for the pain, but the horrible electric shocks never came.

"Don't be an idiot, Sparks. We don't want him to be knocked out again." Blaze had grabbed Sparks just before she could give her shocking embrace.

"Awwww… I was just worried," Sparks whined, making Rin giggle and Blaze roll her eyes.

"Look who's calling who an idiot. Don't forget that you were the one who knocked him out the first time," Rin pointed out, making Blaze literally burst into flames.

"You guys are really starting to piss me off! Shut up or I'll make you shu-"

"Oh!" Blaze was cut off by the embrace of her trainer, who had snuck up on her.

"Come on, girls. You shouldn't be fighting. Come on and give me a hug." He beckoned to Sparks. "And Sparks, you too." Blaze looked flustered as both Rin and Sparks happily joined in on the impromptu group hug. Eventually she sighed and put her full force into the hug too. Instead of being shocked by Sparks' lightning, they all felt a soothing current flow through their bodies.

"See? It's like nothing changed at all," Aaron said as the hug dissipated. Sparks nodded.

"Yeah! Except that you got turned into a human-Pokémon hybrid and genderswapped too!" Sparks reminded everyone in a joyous manner. As Aaron gawked at her, Rin sighed.

"Well, hate to say it but that kinda killed the mood."

"What? It's true."

* * *

Aaron followed his Pokémon as they walked to a surprisingly competent mountain base camp on the edge of the cliff. Aaron was glad to see that his Pokémon had made great use of the supplies. The pop up tents were set up, and there was already a fire burning with a whole stack of firewood set aside for later use. "Wow."

"As you can see," Blaze started with a cocky grin. "I did a fantastic job setting up camp."

"Zoey did everything," Rin deadpanned, making Blaze growl under her breath. "But we all kept everything ready for when you woke up." Suddenly, a low growl permeated from Aaron's belly, making him blush profusely.

"Um, did you get some food ready?" Aaron asked nervously. All of the Pokémon stopped at the question and stared at each other wide eyed. They all made a horrible realization.

"Oh, crap-" said Blaze.

"-we forgot-" said Rin.

"-the food!" finished Sparks.

Rin, the tactician that she was, raised a claw in the air and started shouting orders. "Listen up. Our master needs food and fast. I'll go get some fish. Blaze, you get ready with a flamethrower. You'll know when to use it." Rin orders the hot-headed bird. Blaze flashed a thumbs-up like gesture.

"Got it." Rin nodded and continued.

"Sparks, grab the pan from the camping set. When it comes in for the landing, be there to grab it." Sparks saluted, with a serious expression that just looked goofy given the situation.

"Right!" Rin spread her wings and flapped them hard, launching her into the air.

"Get ready. The fish will be coming your way in ten seconds tops!" Aaron couldn't help but gawk at his Pokémon.

"Girls, really you don't have to hurry so-" Before he could finish, Rin launched off towards the distant river and Blaze stood at the edge of the cliff while Sparks rummaged around in a backpack. Aaron sighed as he realized that he couldn't stop them. He mosied over the fire and sat down, watching the show.

About five seconds later, Aaron saw four fish hurtling toward the camp at ludicrous speed. Blaze took that as her cue and jumped straight up, catching the fish in her talons before throwing them up. She opened her maw and fired a constant blast of scorching flame, roasting the fish as she fell.

Sparks finally found the frying pan, holding it over her head like a certain Hylian warrior, before running over to catch the fish just in time. Blaze hit the ground with a thud as Rin touched down next to her. The three Pokémon looked at each other and grinned confidently. They all turned their heads as they heard a muffled sound coming from the fire.

"You girls are freakin' amazing, you know?" Aaron grinned as he awkwardly clapped with his blood red claws. "Wow, that sounds weird. Doesn't quite work without hands." The gathered Pokémon laughed and walked over to the fire to join their trainer.

"Let's eat!" Sparks cheered, setting down the pan and grabbing a fish. Blaze and Rin followed suit and took their own fish. They started to chow down, taking big bites of the perfectly cooked fish. After they finished a moment later, Blaze wiped her mouth and released a hearty belch.

"Aaaaaah, delicious. Magikarp's not my favorite, but I cooked those goooood," Blaze boasted. Sparks nodded, still chewing happily.

"It is very good, but I agree. Rin, you should have went for some Feebas." Rin rolled her eyes and face palmed.

"How I put up with you two, I have no clue." Sparks swallowed her fish and rubbed her belly.

"Mm. Are there any extra?" Sparks looked over to the pan and perked up as she saw another fish in it. She reached to grab it but then something occurred to her. "Wait a minute." The three Pokémon looked to see their trainer staring at his paws with a look of sadness and fear. Tears welled up in his eyes as he continued to look at himself.

"Girls," Aaron started, a teardrop already dripping onto his black furred chest. "What the hell am I gonna do?! I can't let anyone see me like this. I mean, look at me! I shouldn't even be able to understand you!" He clenched his paws into a shape resembling a fist. "I thought I could deal with this."

Aaron put his paws over his eyes and openly wept. "But I can't! I'm a freak. But that wasn't enough. It had to take my gender too!" She sobbed into his paws, covering his fur with tears. Suddenly he felt a big paw wrap around his back, making his crying stop. He looked up to see Rin, who looked back at him with strong, solemn eyes.

"Aaron. I know you are going through a lot, but just know that you aren't alone. We have always had your back in the past and this doesn't change that." Aaron stared into her eyes and knew that Rin meant what she said. Sparks stood up and bounced over to Aaron, embracing him tightly.

"It doesn't matter what you look like. Like you said yourself, nothing has changed at all. You're still you!" Blaze stood as well and put a talon on Aaron's shoulder, flashing a smile.

"But you gotta be strong. You can't be sad about something you can't change." Aaron looked at each of his Pokémon and shed a tear, not one of sadness but of happiness.

"What did I do to deserve you girls? I have to be the luckiest person in the world." For several minutes the human-Pokémon hybrid and his Pokémon enjoyed the embrace, soaking up each other's love. Sparks then poked Aaron, who turned to her with a questioning look.

"What is it, Sparks?" Sparks blushed and scratched the back of her head.

"Are you still gonna eat that fish?"

* * *

As the moon was starting to rise, the next five minutes were spent trying to teach Aaron how to eat fish with his new body. His paws were surprisingly dexterous, able to be maneuvered very similarly to his old hands. He was initially freaked out when he realized that he had lost a finger in his transformation, but it didn't make as much as a difference as he thought.

His new super sharp teeth easily tore through the fish, which slightly disturbed him. Before he could even ask the question Rin was quick to say that he was still omnivorous, as all Pokémon are, so that came to some relief. Of course the fish was delicious, so Aaron was able to focus on that for the moment. Eventually Aaron finished his fish and looked to his Pokémon, who had been sitting quietly waiting for him to finish.

"I trust that it tastes good?" Rin asked, making Aaron smile back.

"Of course! Everything is just really weird right now, but this makes me feel a little bit better." Aaron's ears drooped unconsciously as he scratched his mane nervously. "Although, next time could you please try to find Feebas next time?" Rin gasped in shock as Blaze and Sparks burst into laughter. Rin huffed and started ranting loudly.

"Oh, not you too! You know how I feel about Feebas! They're so… nasty looking! And they probably have all kinds of germs on them and…" Rin saw that Aaron was giggling quietly. Rin sighed. "Very funny."

"Good one, Aaron," Blaze said as she raised a talon which Aaron high fived (or foured I suppose). "I mean, who knows? Maybe Zoey will bring back some Feebas." Aaron immediately perked up at the mention of her name.

"Zoey? Where is she?" Sparks scratched her chin.

"Oh, I remember! She went back into the woods about an hour before you woke up. She didn't tell us why though." Aaron stood up with a look of absolute determination in his eyes.

"I'm going to look for her." His Pokémon looked at him aghast, Rin standing herself and looking Aaron in the eyes.

"No. You are in no condition to leave. You said it yourself, you don't know how your body works yet. It's far too dangerous." Blaze stood as well.

"You don't even know how well you can fight! We don't want you to get yourself killed."

"And given this past day, you haven't had that much luck with avoiding danger," Sparks said joining the others in standing. Aaron looked down, considering what they had to say. They were correct in that he didn't know what his new body was capable of, and that scared him a bit. Aaron sighed in defeat.

"OK… I see what you are saying. She should be able to handle herself. I just hope that she will get back sa-"

Suddenly a cry rang out from the forest in the distance, a cry that Aaron's sensitive ears recognized. His eyes hardened, letting out a low growl as he dropped into a crouching stance. His Pokémon gasped as Aaron dashed off into the woods at incredible speed. He didn't care what his Pokémon said now. Zoey was in trouble. And that's all that mattered to him.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Night of Fate

"Damn it!" Blaze screamed, her talons bursting into flame as she watched her trainer turned Pokémon run into the woods. "We need to stop him! He's gonna get himself killed!" Blaze turned to Rin and Sparks with a look of seething anger on her face. "What the hell are you two waiting for?" Sparks hung her head.

"We won't be able to stop him. We all know how Aaron and Zoey feel about each other." She gazed out from the cliff to the vast woodland below. "I'll bet Aaron would do just about anything for Zoey."

"Even getting himself killed," Rin said. "If his new instincts are anything like Zoey's, it could even be dangerous to try to restrain him."

"Nevertheless, we still follow him!" Blaze demanded, the flames increasing in volume and heat. "We need to be there to help if something bad happens." Even with their doubts, Rin and Sparks looked at each other and nodded.

"Fine." Rin spread her wings and dusted off, shooting off above forest. Blaze and Sparks charged after her, the darkness of the woods spreading over them.

* * *

A feral beast tore through the forest, running at speed that just weren't possible before. He

vaulted over a fallen tree stump, not losing even a bit of his momentum. A wafting scent made his eyes dilate. _Blood…_ The scent only increased his rage.

"If you even so much as touch her, I'll kill you!" he roared, his eyes turning from a cool blue to bright crimson. If he would have had control, he would have noticed that he had ran past his original encampment in the valley of the mountain.

The smell of blood became more intense as he neared the bottom of the large cliff he had fallen off of. He snarled, baring his teeth as he shot down of the crevasse of the mountain.

Aaron rounded the corner and saw his best friend, the Pokémon who had been there since the beginning of his journey, fighting three giant Graveler at once. She had cuts all over her body, and they streamed blood out onto her grey and black fur. She was knelt down on the ground clutching her arm, which seemed to have taken the most punishment.

"Looks like she's almost done," one of the Graveler said, taking a few more steps toward his prey. "Get ready, boys. The meat's gonna be tenderized tonight!" Zoey closed her eyes, waiting for the inevitable. They didn't notice the human-Pokémon hybrid behind them whose claws were pulsating with a dark power.

"Zoey!" Aaron screamed as he hurled himself at the Graveler, surprising the two others as he slashed the leader in the back. The Graveler cried out in pain as the dark energy tore through his outer shell, cutting into his soft flesh underneath. Zoey opened her eyes and saw the beast standing in front of her, ready to fight. Her eyes lit up with hope as the Graveler stood up.

"Argh! What the hell is that?" The Graveler demanded, his arms grasping for his open wound. His two friends sized up the attacker and looked with wide eyes and open mouths.

The feral beast had crouched low to the ground on all fours, his red eyes casting a deadly glare onto them. While the beast looked similar, the Graveler noticed the difference in anatomy compared to their prey, including the pair of breasts that were hanging low on the beast's chest.

"Boss, I think it's a Pokémon, but it kinda looks like a human. But also… not a human? I don't know," one of the Graveler tried to explain. The leader growled and faced the beast..

"I don't care what it is. I want it dead! Get her, boys!" he bellowed.

"Come one step closer, and I'll kill every one of you!" the beast screamed, before he felt a paw touch his shoulder. He looked up to see Zoey looking down at him with a determined smile.

"Mind if I give you a hand?" Zoey said, as she dropped in a battle stance matching Aaron's own. "It's been awhile since we've battled together," she said as she looked into Aaron's eyes. The rage in Aaron's eyes faded as he stared back at Zoey, becoming their light blue again.

"Yeah. It has been some time." The Graveler were slowly approaching, all twelve hands curled into fists. "We can handle these bozos, right?"

"We sure as hell are gonna try," Zoey replied, getting ready for another fight.

"Not without us you aren't!" A voice called out from the sky, causing all of the grounded Pokémon to look up. Blaze, Rin, and Sparks all landed around Aaron and Zoey, causing the Graveler to gasped in shock. Aaron jumped up with glee at his Pokémon's arrival.

"Yes! Girls, I'm so glad you followed me. Fantastic timing by the way." The leader of the Graveler's eyes widened in realization.

"No way! That… thing is a trainer?!" he choked out fearfully. Blaze laughed heartily, flaring up her flames in the process.

"That's right, bub. These are our friends, and we protect our own. If you don't want to get hurt, you better beat it." The leader took the opportunity and signaled to his friends.

"We'll come back to get you, just you wait!" he said, as he and his lackeys curled into balls and rolled away.

"Don't even try," Rin called out.

"We'd kick your butts either way!" Sparks finished as they rolled around a corner and out of sight. Zoey sighed, with a grateful smile on her face.

"Good. I didn't even have the energy left to keep fighting." She gripped her arm and winced at the pain.

"But do you have the energy for this?" Zoey suddenly felt someone wrap their arms around her in a hug, but she knew exactly who it was. She wrapped her arms around Aaron and giggled softly as the other Pokémon did the same. The transformed human and his Pokémon spent just about a minute in the hug.

"This is our second group hug today," Sparks said. "And you got to be in this one, Zoey!"

"Seriously, Zoey," said Blaze. "You have no idea how scared we were. Did you see what happened to Aaron?" Zoey closed her eyes and nodded somberly.

"I know. I should have told you girls where I was going. I just had to see if I could find anything about what happened to you, Aaron." He looked embarrassed for a moment. "And then I almost got myself killed too. I'm sorry."

"All that matters is that we're all together again," Aaron said as the hug dispersed, but then he noticed that dark crevasse was much brighter than before. His Pokémon were staring at his mane in awe. "Huh? What's going on?" He looked down and saw it.

He saw that his mane had a bangle in it just the same as Zoey's, except it glowed with a bright light. On closer inspection, it had a very familiar pattern inside of it.

"Is that… my Keystone? What is it doing there?" As Aaron reached out a hand to touch it, Zoey realized what was happening and ran toward him.

"Don't do that, it might…" But it was too late.

The stone started pulsating with all of the colors in the spectrum as Aaron's eyes glowed pure white. The power from the stone raised Aaron from the ground, suspending him in the air as his Pokémon looked on in confusion and shock. The energy being put out was deafening and blinding, but Zoey kept watching. Aaron struggled against the energy, resisting as he curled up into a ball, before the light exploded outward, absorbing the four gathered Pokémon in the blast.

Unbeknownst to them, a small brown fox-like creature watched from around the corner before zipping back off into the forest unseen.

* * *

Aaron woke with a start and opened his eyes. The first that he noticed was that he could feel something that was different from before. He looked down at himself, still seeing his curvy chest and fur all over. He sighed.

"That's still the same," he said a little dejectedly. "What just happened then?" He raised himself up to a sitting position. He noted that he was still in the crevasse, although the darkness confirmed that not much time had passed. "Hmm?" Aaron was surprised to see that his Pokémon were starting to stir as well.

He got up and walked over to Sparks, reaching for her arm to help her wake up, but he paused when he saw a familiar light glowing from the Keystone in his mane. But this time was different.

Aaron felt a new, bizarre feeling radiating through his being, chilling him to the bone. Every part of his body tingled as the stone glowed bright white light. Aaron turned to look at the Keystone and grimaced.

"What are you trying to tell me? Last time this happened you made me and my friends pass out." He knew he shouldn't touch it, all things considering, but the energy flowing through him made him curious, excited even. He reached his hand to the Keystone and touched it.

He could feel the same energy coursing through his body as he was once again lifted into the air. His eyes glowed bright white as the rest of his body started to follow suit. He could feel his body shifting and changing, the energy molding him to its whim. It didn't hurt, but it certainly felt strange. Finally, the glowing subsided, lowering Aaron from the air. He landed gently on his feet and immediately noticed something was off.

He raised his hands to look at them and once again, his heart jumped in shock. His hands weren't a Zoroark's red claws and grey fur, but instead bright yellow. Aaron's eyes widened when he realized he had lost even more fingers. His hand looked like a giant mitten, his fingers replaced with a stubby and pointy ending kind of resembling a flipper. He sighed in relief when he found that he still had his thumbs, so he wasn't completely screwed on that front.

When he looked down at the rest of his body, he couldn't help but blush at the sight of his new form. His chest and belly were covered with a thin layer of white fur, with the rest of his body being the same bright yellow as his hands. His feet looked very similar to his hands, ending in a short stubby white nail. The view also made him realized that his neck was slightly longer than before and was covered in three black rings of fur that went all the way around his neck.

He caught the sight of something shiny entering his view, making him turn his head to see a glowing red orb on the end of… something? He wasn't sure what.

 _What the hell was that? Another stupid stone I have to worry about?_ Suddenly the orb moved closer to his face, sending an odd sensation down Aaron's spine and surprising her too. She craned her neck around and gasped.

 _I have a tail,_ he thought. He did have a tail. A BIG tail. It was long and yellow, with the same black rings on his neck going all the way up to the end. It started very large at the base of his spine, but became smaller the further down the length of it. The large red orb was attached to the end of his tail, gleaming from the moonlight from the top of the crevasse. He hadn't noticed that his own breathing had increased to almost hyperventilation levels.

He turned back forward, shutting his eyes hard. "Breath, Aaron, breath. This isn't the first time this has happened. Just relax," he said quietly. _Let's examine the situation,_ he thought. _I grabbed Sparks' hand, the Keystone started glowing, I touched the stone, I get turned from a human-Zoroark hybrid to a human-Ampharos hybrid. I think I got it,_ he concluded.

He had to check one more place. He ran his hands down her face, feeling the rounded cone shaped snout he now sported. His ears were similar in shape to his snout, being both pointed and rounded. As he was moving her hands away, he gasped when his hands impacted something between his ears. He looked up, managing to see a red shape at the top of his vision. A quick once over with his hands confirmed that he had a large red orb directly on his forehead that matched the one on his tail.

He found it odd that he could feel slight sensations of touch as he moved his hands around the orb. It felt like sort of like touching a tooth. Except, you know, on top of your head.

"This is too bizarre," he said quietly to her herself, grimacing as he looked down at himself again. "There has to be a way to reverse this."

"Ah!" a voice suddenly rang out, making Aaron jump in shock.

"What the?" Aaron looked down at the ground and saw Sparks staring at him with eyes the size of dinner plates. She shook softly as she pointed at Aaron.

"Wh-wh-why, do y-y-you, lo-lo-look, like me?" Sparks stuttered in fear. Aaron rolled his eyes.

"Sparks, it's me."

"Hmm?" Sparks stopped shaking, recognizing Aaron's female voice which managed to survive the transformation. She stood and walked over to Aaron.

"What are you doing, Sparks?" Sparks said nothing as she circled around Aaron, examining every part of his new body. She poked and prodded several places, including his tail and the orbs he sported. Aaron blushed unconsciously, embarrassed at the attention he was getting. Finally Sparks stopped, standing in front of Aaron once again.

"I get it," Sparks said, nodding. "You're a hybrid of me now!" Aaron shrugged.

"I guess I am."

"Also, you're pretty hot. Did you know that your boobs got bigger?"

"SPARKS!"


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: A Little Help From My Friends

"So Aaron, what do you think is going on?" Zoey asked as she and the other Pokémon sat around the base's campfire. After the incident in the chasm, they had all walked back to camp together. Zoey had bandaged up her forearm and eaten a few Oran berries, so she was well on the way towards recovery. Despite all of the action that had taken place, it was only 9 o'clock p.m. Aaron shook his head sighing.

"I just… don't know," he said quietly, staring down at his new body with more than a little contempt. "The initial transformation was freaky enough as it was."

"On the bright side, you do look pretty cute when you look like me," Sparks chimed in happily.

"This mystery keeps getting bigger and bigger. Could this have anything to do with the Keystone?" Rin contemplated. Zoey nodded.

"That has to be it. It has been involved in all of the previous transformations." Zoey looked at Aaron. "Right?"

Aaron closed his eyes and felt the warm energy flowing through his body. "Something happened when I touched it the first time. That big shockwave that got all of us changed something."

"Obviously," Blaze snarked. "Before that blast I didn't see you turning into other Pokémon."

"Which begs the question," said Rin. "Does this new power mean that you could transform into hybrids of all of us?" Aaron thought for a moment before nodding slightly.

"I wouldn't doubt it." He looked at his yellow hands, clenching them into fists. "But that encounter tonight made me realize something." He looked at each of his Pokémon one by one. "Zoey, Rin, Blaze, Sparks. I don't like this situation we've been forced into. This transformation stole my humanity and my masculinity and forced me into this mess." He stood up looking towards the sky.

"But I sure as hell won't let it keep me down. I'm gonna need your help girls. This body is alien to me. Considering my outburst earlier, it could even be very dangerous. I don't know what it's capable of, nor do I want to find out without your assistance." He smiled. "But I'm confident that we can figure it out. We've come out of a lot of tough spots together, and this isn't gonna be the one that breaks us."

Zoey and Blaze smiled proudly while Rin nodded with her usual warm satisfaction. Sparks could barely contain her tears of joy as Aaron looked back to them.

"That means something else too." He grabbed his breasts in his hands and squeezed them. "I'm gonna have to get used to being a girl for a while."

Rin frowned. "We've been referring to you as male even after you changed."

"Does this mean you need a new name?" Sparks said, tilting her head. "That'll be weird." Blaze laughed.

"And all the rest of this isn't weird? Come on. A name isn't anything Sparks." Aaron rolled his eyes and sighed.

"That may be true, but Sparks is kinda right. It would be really weird. I really wish I didn't have to change it."

"Maybe you don't have to," Zoey said. "Erin. E-R-I-N. It's still pronounced the same way, but it's also a girl's name. How is that?" Aaron frowned, raising a brow.

"Hmm… It's good, but let's hold off on using it right now," Aaron said, looking a little downcast again. "Hopefully I won't be stuck like this for that long."

"Hopefully not," Zoey said, standing up and gesturing to the tents. "We should all get some rest. Today was pretty crazy after all."

"Couldn't agree more," Rin said as she stood up, Blaze and Sparks standing as well.

Aaron watched them retreat into their own tent, before standing and walking to his own. As he entered, he collapsed onto the blowup mattress that was already set up and stared at the top of the tent. Suddenly, a thought occurred to him.

"Girls," Aaron said quietly. After getting several questioning sounds in reply, he continued. "I want to make the most of tomorrow. I gotta start learning how to use my body's powers. I figure I should learn from each of you individually to get a hang of your moves and powers. What do you say?"

"Ooh, ooh, ooh! Can I go first?" Aaron heard Sparks whisper excitedly.

"No way. He should learn all of the cool stuff first," Blaze snapped.

"It doesn't matter who goes first. Wake me up when you decide it's my turn," Rin huffed, follow by sounds of the other tent shifting loudly.

"But it does matter, Rin! Aaron already looks like me, so I should get to go first!" Sparks cried.

" _How did I know this was gonna happen,"_ Aaron heard Zoey's voice in his head. _"Good night, Aaron. Good luck getting sleep."_

Aaron chuckled, snuggling into the sheets on the mattress.

"They'll sort it out themselves. Eventually," he said softly before closing his eyes and drifting off to sleep.

* * *

His mind went still once again, the familiar white dreamspace appearing to him. This time, he was prepared. He had to talk to Cresselia again. He focused, closing his eyes and calling the scene back from his mind.

Just like last time, the infinite white void started to fill itself in. The forest, the clearing, the vast ocean surrounding the landmass. He was back on Fullmoon Island.

"Cresselia!" he called out, expecting her to be surprised at his arrival. A response never came, making Aaron confused.

"Where is she? I thought she was always here," he said, looking up at the moon, which was a little less bright than it was last time. "Maybe I should come back later. It would be pointless to try and find her. So many dreams to look through."

"Aaron, wait!" Aaron stopped as the moon's light boosted in brightness, making him look up to see the familiar figure drifting down to the island.

"Cressy! I was think I wasn't going to get to talk to you tonight," Aaron said happily as she neared him.

"You're getting impatient," she laughed as she came face to face with him. "You're also looking a bit different then when we last met." Aaron nodded, gesturing to the rest of his body.

"Yeah, I'm looking quite like an Ampharos right now." Cresselia giggled, blushing.

"Oh, that? That much was obvious. I just meant that your breasts are looking significantly bigger than they were before." Aaron paused, as if he didn't believe what she just said. After a moment, he facepalmed, groaning in disbelief.

"Don't remind me," he growled. He decided to stifle his anger with a question. "So, why were you away? Checking someone else's dreams?" Cresselia smiled.

"No, actually. I was busy gathering up some familiar faces to come see you." Aaron raised an eyebrow, looking curious.

"Really? Who might they be?" he asked.

"I told them to wait outside the dreamscape until I gave the signal." She turned to the moon, focusing on it with great psychic power. "Come forth!" The moon's light shone brighter as three small figures flew out of it. Aaron squinted into the light to get a look, and a smile slowly began to form on his face as they neared the island.

The three figures were small, resembling fairies on a physical level. They each had two gem encrusted tails that trailed behind them, but that's where the similarities ended. They each had a different color on their differently shaped heads. The yellow one had a head similar to a helmet adorned with several grooves, reminiscent of a brain. The magenta one had four long appendages that drooped off equally on both sides of its head. Finally, the blue one had a pointed head with two elf ear-like protrusions on either side of it. They swooped and slowed to a stop next to Cresselia, making Aaron laugh with joy.

"Hey, you guys!" He ran up to them to greet them. The blue fairy regarded him oddly before throwing up a shield in front of Aaron suddenly, making him smack into it hard.

"Gah!" Aaron screamed as he fell to the ground, dazed from the hit. The blue fairy turned at looked at Cresselia irritatedly.

"What is this thing, Cresselia?" It said in a high-pitched male voice. "I thought you were taking us to Aaron." Aaron stared open-mouthed as Cresselia hung her head in annoyance. The magenta fairy flew over to Aaron, looking him over closely with its yellow eyes.

"You certainly don't look like Aaron," the magenta fairy said as Aaron scratched the back of his head nervously. "In fact, everything about you is different," it said in a soft female voice.

The yellow fairy shook its head, and even though its eyes were closed, still managed to show annoyance. "Not everything." The fairy floated over to the Ampharos hybrid and poked his breasts, making Aaron eep and cover them hastily. "Even with these drastic changes in anatomy, you must look on a deeper level to see the true form." The yellow fairy smiled slowly, nodding and extending its hand. "Hello, Aaron. It is a pleasure to see you again."

Aaron smiled back, thankful that his friend recognized him. "Nice to see you too, Uxie." He took Uxie's hand and shook it lightly. Uxie turned to see his two companions gawking at him, making him frown in response.

"You mean you two didn't examine his aura?" he scoffed, turning his back to them. "You would think that after the countless millennia we've been alive that you would learn to see past the physical world." Aaron laughed as Azelf and Mesprit glared at him.

"Uxie, you jerk!" Mesprit yelled, looking very cross. "You don't have to be so smart _all_ the time," she whined, crossing her arms indignantly.

"I hate to say it, Mesprit," Azelf said after closing his eyes for a moment. "But he's right." Suddenly Azelf flew at Aaron, who opened his arms and allowed the blue fairy to glomp him.

"Hiya, Aaron," Azelf said happily. "Sorry I didn't recognize you." Aaron smiled.

"Well, to be fair, I really do look nothing like I used to." Aaron saw Mesprit close her eyes, her two tails glowing with psychic energy. Aaron knew what she was doing: she was looking at his aura. When she opened her eyes, they were welled up with tears. She too threw herself at Aaron, Azelf dodging out of the way as she landed right in Aaron's arms.

"Oh my gosh, I'm soooooo sorry Aaron," she wailed, wrapping her tiny arms around his torso. Aaron rolled his eyes, but continued to smile as the pink fairy cried into his fur. "You don't hate me, do you?" She enquires.

"Of course not." Aaron glanced over to Cresselia, who was watching the going ons with an amused grin. He raised an eyebrow, smirking at her.

"So, Cressy. You didn't bother to mention to them that this had happened to me?" Cresselia's face dropped, looking guilty all the sudden. She grinned at him awkwardly.

"Heh heh… Yeah, maybe I forgot to mention that."

"That doesn't matter anymore," Mesprit interrupted. "We're gonna do everything we can to help Aaron out!"

"Indeed," Uxie agreed. "This transformation must be very taxing both physically and more importantly, mentally. We will supply aid any way we can." Azelf rolled his eyes.

"Uh… Uxie? We all have lakes we have to guard. We can't be on call all the time," he protested, making Aaron fold his arms. "No offense."

"If I may make a suggestion," Cresselia spoke up, approaching the Lake Guardians. "I could allow you access to this realm to communicate with Aaron in his dreams. As long as you're OK with that idea, Aaron." Aaron scratched his chin in contemplation, the Lake Guardians gathering around him in anticipation. Finally, he nodded.

"As long as you guys don't give nightmares or something, I don't see a problem with it." The Lake Guardians all grinned widely and circled around him happily, with around beaming back at them. "I'll be looking forward to see you guys around more often."

"I'm glad you've got that settled," Cresselia said, floating over to them. "But the morning is coming. It's time to wake up."

"We will take our leave then," Uxie said, beckoning the others to join him. "Cresselia, if you would?"

"Of course." Cresselia's eyes glowed with psychic energy as a portal appeared on Fullmoon Island's dreamscape. The Lake Guardians voiced their goodbyes as they flew quickly into the portal and out of the dream realm. Cresselia faced Aaron again. "So, what is your plan for the morning?" Aaron's face darkened as he looked down at his hands.

"A lot of things have changed recently, Cresselia," he said quietly. He suddenly balled up his hands into fists, and looked at Cresselia with fiery determination. "And I need to be ready to face these new challenges." Cresselia nodded.

"Very good. I believe that is the best way to think about this." She turned, getting ready to fly away. "Remember to seek out myself or the Guardians if you ever need our help." She lifted off and drifted back into the night sky above. Aaron looked at the portal and began to walk towards it.

"I'll keep that in mind."

* * *

"I told you, I get to teach him first cuz he's already me!"

Aaron's ears twitched as he slowly opened his eyes. Something was going on outside the tent.

"Who made you the boss? He's been an Ampharos for a whole night! He needs to try something cooler, better, faster, and most importantly, stronger."

"Hey, that's mean!"

Aaron groaned. _Oh, great. I can't believe they are still at it,_ he thought as he rose and stretched. He let out a short yawn as he unzipped the tent and exited into the cool spring morning. She saw Blaze and Sparks glaring at each other.

"Come on, you two. Can't a guy get some sleep around here?" Blaze and Sparks both eeped at the sudden arrival of their trainer, glancing at him nervously. Blaze then straightened up and laughed awkwardly.

"No, a guy can't get any sleep around here," she said quietly, making Aaron tilt his head. "Because you're not a guy anymore. Get it?"

Aaron stared at Blaze for at least thirty brutal seconds as she sweated under his gaze. Blaze shot a pleading look at Sparks, who was now several feet farther away than her original position.

"Sparks, hey. Do... you wanna be the one to teach him first?"

* * *

After a bit of work, Blaze, Sparks, and Aaron were able to build a small circular arena out of fallen trees, although Aaron made Blaze do all of the hard stuff as punishment. Sparks and Aaron had moved to the center of the arena while Blaze sat indignantly on the sidelines.

"That was some cruel and unusual punishment, Aaron!" she called out, as she massaged her back with her claws.

"I don't think so, considering that your joke reminded me of a cruel and unusual transformation that was heavily traumatic for me," Aaron remarked with overemphasized smugness. Blaze shook her head, but couldn't help but smirk back at him.

"Screw you, Aaron."

"Alright then!" Aaron looked at Sparks incredulously as she struck a dramatic pose. "I'm gonna teach you how to be as electrifying awesome-and cute-as me!" She stared fiercely into his eyes. "Are you ready to be… _shocked_ by the power that you have?!" While her speech was incredibly corny, Aaron felt a surge of excitement go his through body as she said this.

"Oh yes, Sensei Sparks. Teach me your ways."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: You Teach Me

Blaze sat on the outside ring of the arena, putting her claws behind her head as she watched Sparks start to lecture Aaron. She sighed in exasperation.

"Her moves suck compared to mine. He doesn't know what he's missing," she pouted.

"He has to start somewhere." Blaze jumped at the unexpected voice, looking around to see Zoey walking towards her. Blaze shook her head, smirking.

"I still have no idea how you sneak up on me like that. You don't even make a sound!" Zoey giggled a little as she sat down next to her.

"A true master of darkness is only seen when they want to be seen," she said matter-of-factly. Blaze jabbed her shoulder playfully, and then pointed to the two yellow beings in the arena's center.

"Look at them out there. I swear Sparks has been waiting for this moment her whole life."

"She'll be a good teacher," Zoey responded. "You got anything planned for your training?" Blaze looked at her with a faux-deadpan look.

"Well, duh." Zoey laughed at her silly expression, with Blaze herself joining in. "Me and Aaron spared all the time when he was human. He's a natural! But he could never beat me of course." She punched forward into the air twice. "But with my abilities at his disposal, he could be an actual threat." Zoey nodded, looking back to Aaron and Sparks. They sat silent for a while, spectating Spark's lecture.

"Do you think he's OK?" Zoey suddenly asked. Blaze looked at her oddly.

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"He's taking this whole thing way too well. A stone with an unknown power steals his body and identity and then he just gets up the next morning like it's no big deal. I get a feeling he is hiding some negative feelings from us." Blaze closed her eyes and nodded in understanding, remembering Aaron's partial breakdown from the night before.

"I see what you are saying. We need to be there if he starts to freak out again. Should we tell the other girls about this?" Blaze asked, making Zoey shake her head.

"Not right now. After all, he has some training to do." Blaze grinned at that.

"And we have a lot of teaching to do!"

* * *

"OK, first lesson! Moves!" Sparks yelled as she struck another fabulous pose. "You are familiar with moves, correct?" Aaron was amused.

"Of course. I kind of command you do them a lot." Sparks laughed like a cartoon supervillain, as she pointed at Aaron.

"Indeed! But now the roles will be reversed! I get to be your trainer today!"

"As will everyone else," Aaron muttered under his breath. Sparks continued, not even hearing Aaron's comment.

"First, the bread and butter of the Ampharos skillset: Thunder!" Aaron heard the name of the move and was suddenly filled with excitement. He knew the move well. It pumped him up just thinking that he had the power to do that.

"Oh, oh, oh! How do I do it, how do I do it?" Aaron started bouncing up and down with uncontrollable glee, his breasts bouncing along with him. Sparks regarded him oddly before going forth with the explanation.

"Listen up, because this is important. Moves all work on the same basic concept. Focus on the move you want to use… and release." Sparks looked up to the sky and focused her power. Little arcs of lightning shot across her body as she lifted her hands to the sky. "THUNDER!" Aaron whirled around and watched as a black cloud appeared and launched a wicked thunderbolt straight into the ground nearby. The resulting thunderclap was huge, making Aaron cover his ears. When he looked up, he saw the blackened spot on the ground, causing him to leap into the air and cheer.

"Wow! I can't believe I'll be able to do that!" Sparks laughed at Aaron's behavior. He was acting particularly excitable for some reason, but Sparks found it very amusing.

"That's right! Now get over here and try it out." Aaron nodded, rushing over to stand next to Sparks. He closed his eyes, reaching deep inside himself for the power to use the move. Finally he opened his eyes and, copying Sparks, lifted his hands to the sky and shouted loudly.

"THUNDER!" He grinned widely, hoping to hear a thunderous boom.

But it failed.

"Eh?" Aaron questioned as he continued to awkwardly hold his hands in the air. "THUNDER!" No effect, once again. He turned over to look at Sparks only to find her laying on the ground and laughing. "Hey!"

"Ha ha ha ha… oh!" She hopped back onto her feet and immediately switched back into her teacher mode. "You definitely have the focus. And absolutely fabulous technique. I'm just not sure what you are missing..." Aaron sighed at his Pokémon's antics, looking downcast.

"Sparks, I don't get it. I know what the move looks like. I've seen it a million times. I just don't know what to look for inside. It doesn't make any sense." Sparks smiled sweetly, touching her transformed trainer's shoulder.

"I know it's kinda hard to grasp, but you can't just look for it. You have to feel the power that's inside." Aaron took in this new information and looked Sparks in the eye. He smiled back, putting his arm around her in a side hug. Sparks followed suit, wrapping her arm around him too. She allowed literal sparks to fly between them, little bolts of lightning arcing from her to him and back to her. Aaron felt like he understood.

"Thanks, Sparks," he said as he broke the embrace. He took a few steps forward and closes his eye again. But this time he let his instincts take the reigns. He remembered the feeling of being shocked violently by Sparks' lightning in the past. He remembered all of the great hugs they shared together. He remembered the moment they just had, allowing her lightning to spread across his body. He was ready.

He opened his eyes, truly seeing the world in a new way. He had found the spark inside of him. Sparks gasped as she saw the Keystone on the back on Aaron's tail start to glow. Arcs of lightning launched across his body as Aaron raised his hands in the air, looking to the sky.

"Thunder." He said it quietly, but the effect was immediate. A black cloud manifested over the black spot on the ground and released a blindingly colorful bolt of lightning that Sparks swore was colored like the rainbow. The thunderclap was heard from miles around the camp and across the mountain.

Sparks hooted and hollered as she jumped over to Aaron, grinning so widely you could swear her smile came off of her face.

"Oh my gosh, Aaron, that was so awesome! I can't even believe how good that was? Are you sure this is your first time being a Pokemon, but that was so wonderfully done! How did you do that rainbow thingy? I can't do that, how you get to… huh?" Aaron didn't respond to any of the praise. In fact, he looked incredibly exhausted.

"My favorite color is seven," he mumbled as he fell straight forwards, landing flat on his face. Sparks looked down at him and giggled.

"Oh, Aaron," she said, shaking her head. "I remember the first time I cast Thunder."

* * *

"Thunder!" Aaron shouted as he was suddenly brought back to reality by a cool splash of water. He rolled onto his back and lifted himself up off the ground, shivering. "Ah, that's freakin' freezing! Why'd you do that?" He yelped in realization as he saw Sparks standing in front of him. "Oh no, did I knock myself out?"

Sparks, who was holding a now empty bucket, nodded. "Yup! You exerted yourself too hard and passed out. It's been about five minutes." Sparks decide to not let on the fact that he had mumbled some stuff while he was dazed on the ground. Something about kitsunes and ponies.

"Geez," Aaron said, sighing. "Did I do it though?"

"What does it look like?" Sparks pointed to the spot on the ground where her thunderbolt had hit and… When Aaron saw what Sparks was actually pointing at, he gasped. The blackened spot had another spot next to it. It was brilliant spectrum of color, from red all the way to purple. A very familiar symbol was emblazoned in the center.

"The Keystone…" Aaron said, as he examined the burn mark in the ground.

"It must have given you the power to use Thunder. It started glowing when you focused really hard." Aaron tilted his head.

"Really? Well, we need to make sure that it wasn't a fluke." Sparks shook her head and waved her arms.

"Wait, don't do Thunder again! It obviously took too much out of you. Let's start with some easier stuff." Aaron decided that was fine. He really didn't want to pass out again.

"Right. Hey, I know another move you can do. Don't tell me, just let me try it." Aaron focused thinking of the move. His Keystone lit up again as he focused. He jumped in the air with surprising height and shouted. "Iron Tail!" His tail was suddenly coated in a shiny metal as it plummeted back to the ground. He went into a forward roll, smashing his tail into the ground.

"Woohoo! That was pretty good!" Aaron hopped to his feet and gave a little bow to the applauding Ampharos.

"I think I'm getting the hang of this." The power was flowing through him like a river, filling him with extraordinary excitement. "Hey, Sparks. I think I'm ready for the next level of our training." Sparks clapped her hands together.

"Alright, then! The next part of the training is… the mock battle!" she cheered, making Aaron even more excited. "Oh, how exciting! I haven't had a proper battle in forever. What kind of match should we do?"

"Hm… We don't really need to be hurting each other so bad. How about a tap battle?" Sparks nodded with gusto.

"Ah! There's an idea. Alright then," she said as she pointing her hand to the sky, posing. "Whoever can tap their opponent three times wins. Moves can be used, but nothing that will hurt!"

"Good. Let's get started." Aaron walked to the edge of the arena, with Sparks walking to the opposite side. Blaze, who was sitting on the sidelines with Zoey, took the opportunity to call out the start.

"Alright, you two dopes. The battle begins in three!" Aaron entered a combat stance, a serious look on his face.

"Two!" Sparks stood at the ready, swaying back and forth in an unheard rhythm.

"One!" Zoey watched both of the battlers attentively. It was going to be interesting to see Aaron battle as a Pokémon for the first time.

"Go!" Blaze yelled, shooting a fireball into the air to signal the start. The two yellow Pokémon sprang into action, charging straight for each other. Aaron was setting up for a quick and low swipe, but Sparks had a plan. Suddenly she stopped did a familiar gesture.

"Thunder!"

"Gah!" A lightning bolt dropped right in front of Aaron, with him managing to stop before getting zapped. But the distraction had worked. Aaron felt a little tap on his shoulder as he was recovering from the blast. "Oh! What the…"

"Gotcha!" Sparks craned her neck around and waved her hand at Aaron. "That's one for me." Aaron shook his head, smirking.

"Aw, I made that too easy for you. I won't let that happen this time." Sparks beckoned him toward her.

"Enough talk," Sparks shot back, posing like a kung-fu fighter. Aaron crouched down low, glaring. He suddenly jumped in the air, his tail turning to solid metal.

"Iron Tail!" Aaron launched downward, aiming directly at Sparks. Sparks watched attentively before quickly dodging backwards. Aaron's tail impacted the ground hard, making Sparks laugh in victory.

"You missed!" Or so she thought. Aaron, in a daring move, launched himself off the ground with the force of his tail. He did a forward flip in the air and reached an arm out, tapping the laughing Ampharos on the nose before rolling onto the ground. Sparks, shocked, looked behind her to see the hybrid standing up.

"Oops. Looks like that one went over your head." Sparks growled.

"Oh, it's on!"

* * *

"Aw, dude! He just did the Iron Leapfrog! Never would have never expected that this would be an actual fight," Blaze said, hunch in forward and pumping her fists with excitement.

"Aaron has battled alongside us for a long time. He was bound to remember some of the stuff we could do," Zoey replied. Blaze pointed at Aaron, who looked to be charging another electric attack.

"But look at him! He's never been able to do stuff like this before. That Keystone really must be something else." Zoey scratched her chin.

"It really is incredible, but it brings up so many questions. We need to find someone who can help us get to the bottom of this," Zoey said as she watched watched Sparks tag Aaron once again. Blaze giggled as she heard him shout a curse.

"Yeah. Since we are in Sinnoh right now, maybe we should go to Rowan."

"Not a bad idea," Zoey replied. "Even if he can't help directly, he could get us in contact with someone who can."

"Another big adventure?" Blaze smirked, looking at Zoey and laughing. "I personally can't wait! And hey, we might get to do some more battling. For real this time!" Zoey gave her a little half-smile as she turned her focus back to the battle. She saw Aaron use Thunder Wave, freezing Sparks in place as he booped her on the nose once again.

"HEY!" Sparks screamed, making Zoey and Blaze laugh.

"Imagine the look on another trainer's face when they see a Pokémon commanding other Pokémon."

"Please tell me we'll be able to figure that out. It would be hilarious," Blaze said, cracking up at the image in her head. "It's two against two out there. I think it's about to get really good."

* * *

"This is hardly fair. I can't move!" Sparks said as she struggled against the electric energy covering her body. Aaron shook his head.

"No. You said we could use moves as long as they don't hurt," he said smugly. "Thunder Wave doesn't hurt anyone in the slightest! You know that more than anyone." Sparks tensed. She knew that she was done for if she didn't do something. She closed her eyes, wracking her brain to think of a plan. And suddenly, it came.

"OK, OK, Aaron," she said sadly. When she opened her eyes, she attempted her most adorable sad puppy look. Aaron tilted his head in confusion as little tears formed in her eyes. "I surrender. Just let me out of this trap and I'll let you win, alright?" Aaron, even in the midst of battle and on the cusp of victory, couldn't help but fall for Sparks' cuteness.

"You know what? Sure. Here," Aaron said as he ran to the treeline and snagged a Cheri berry from a bush. He came back and offered it to her. She took it and nibbled into it, the electric trapping her disappearing instantly.

"Thanks, Aaron," she said quietly, wiping the tears from her eyes. Aaron gave her a patient smile.

"No problem." Aaron lingered on her for a while before turning tail and starting to walk away. An evil flash appeared in Sparks' eye as she suddenly charged at Aaron's back.

"Psych!" she yelled as she aimed for turned back. Aaron, expecting this, did a half turn and swung his arm out.

Both strikes collided, but one struck an entirely different mark. Aaron's hand had hit the intended mark on Sparks' side, but Sparks had accidentally struck the very end of Aaron's tail. The Keystone.

"Gah!" Aaron screamed as the Keystone flashed suddenly. He collapsed to the ground, gripping his head and convulsing with pain as his body writhed.

"AARON!" Sparks cried out, waving her arms and looking to Blaze and Zoey. "Girls, get over here! I don't know what did but…" She looked down at her pained trainer. She had real tears in her eyes now. "But it's really bad!"

Aaron couldn't even scream anymore as his entire body started shrinking, his long tail being absorbed back into his spine. His skin felt like it was burning as black and grey fur starting retaking its place.

"Sparks, what happened?" Zoey said as she slid to a stop in front of the reverting hybrid. She paled at his screams. "Oh, Arceus…" Blaze pointed at the Keystone which was back in its place in Aaron's rapidly appearing blood-red mane.

"It's not glowing like it normally does!" Blaze knelt down and looked on in horror. "Hang in there, dude!" Sparks wasn't looking at him. She was facing away from the transformation and balling her eyes out.

"I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry," she repeated as she covered her ears, trying to block out the cries of agony. "I didn't mean for this to happen!"

As Aaron's flipper-like hands morphed back into claws, he stopped moving and sat completely still. He opened his eyes and shivered violently.

"I'm OK! It hurts, but, oh geez," he said, deciding just to relax to look himself over. He was surprised to see his Zoroark hybrid body had returned.

"Aaron, thank goodness you're alright." Zoey reached her paw out, Aaron taking it and slowly getting to his feet. He stumbled when she let go of his hand, but he managed to get his bearings.

"What in the hell just happened? You were nowhere near Zoey and you turned back into a Zoroark," Blaze said, perturbed. Aaron gripped his head, which still was aching.

"I think I know what happened. But that's not important to me right now." He limped over to the crying Ampharos and put his claw hand on her shoulder.

"Go away from me!" Aaron recoiled at her outburst. Sparks was catatonic, covering her eyes and crying rivers into her fur. "You got hurt because of me! It was all my fault!"

"No! Sparks, I'm OK!" Aaron walked around in front of her and got on his knees. "Look at me, Sparks!" Sparks managed to looked up to see her trainer who was completely unscathed. "See? I'm fine. You didn't know that was gonna happen." He looked directly in her eyes, moving closer to her face. "This was not your fault, you hear me?" Sparks let more tears well up in her eyes as she saw the sincerity in his eyes. That was all she needed to see.

Sparks pushed herself up off of the ground and embraced Aaron tightly. Aaron wrapped his arms around her too, allowing her to cry into his shoulder. She sniffled, talking quietly into Aaron's ear.

"This wouldn't have happened if I wouldn't have pulled that dirty trick." Aaron squeezed her tightly.

"Forget about that now. That's all over and done with." Blaze and Zoey came over to join them, crouching low and embracing Sparks too.

"Sparks, there is no need to be upset. Aaron isn't hurting anymore. Everything's fine now," Zoey said calmly.

"Yeah. You couldn't have known what was gonna happen." Sparks smiled at the words of her friends.

"Thank you," she said as the Pokémon separated. She stood up, glancing up at the morning sun. "You know what would make me feel a little bit better?"

"What's that?" Aaron asked. As if answering his question, both Aaron and Sparks' stomachs growled. Sparks blushed.

"Maybe some breakfast?"

"Sure. That sounds great," Aaron said, gesturing back to the tents. "I think we might have some leftovers from last night." Zoey and Blaze nodded in agreement and started back to the camp. Sparks hung behind, waiting for Aaron.

"Aaron, thanks so much for helping me feel better." Aaron nodded happily.

"It's no problem, Sparks. That's what friends do!" He started to walk toward the camp. "Come on now. Let's get us some breakfast."

"OK!" Sparks trotted along after him with a little spring in her step. _He's not mad at me. I can't believe it,_ she thought. _I'm convinced now. I have the greatest trainer in the whole wide world!_ But as she caught up to the Zoroark hybrid, she noticed something. "Darn it."

"What is it?" Aaron asked. Sparks frowned, looking Aaron over.

"Your boobs aren't as big anymore." Aaron stopped, eyes widening as his face turned completely red. Sparks burst into laughter. "Ha ha ha! You were way cuter when you looked like me!" Aaron stared down at his pair and sighed.

 _She's actually right about the boobs,_ he thought. But he let a little wry smile to cross his lips. _What do you know? That's actually a relief in this situation._


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: ...and I'll Teach You

By SmashUniverse64 and edited by crazedfoxmrn

Preread by ponyjesse/Rainbine Dash

* * *

"Woah! That's new," the boy said as he stared off at the distant mountain. "The flashes were there all night." He grinned widely, knowing he had captured the footage with his camera. "But a lightning bolt too? The color was so bizarre!" He pulled away from the telescope and swept his blonde hair away from his face. He glanced at the rising sun and yawned. "Ugh… maybe I shouldn't have stayed up all night."

He fell off of the wooden chair right into his bed. "Time to sleep," he said as he started to drift off. He didn't see the small device on his nightstand that had lit up suddenly, releasing a blue light that formed into the image of a human being.

"BARRY!"

"Ah!" Barry screamed as he jumped, making him fall off the bed and flat on his face.

"Dude," the holographic image said. "Did you stay up all night looking for activity on the mountain?" Barry scrambled to his feet and faced the hologram.

"Do you see the bags under my eyes?" Barry huffed, crossing his arms. "Come on, Lucas, of course I did!" His best friend in the hologram, Lucas, regarded him with amusement.

"So, what did you find out?" Barry rolled his eyes.

"I figured out that you shouldn't try to sleep when you accidentally leave your Holo Caster on." Lucas laughed.

"Hey, that's not my fault, now is it?"

"I guess it isn't." Barry looked back to the mountain. "The flashes happened multiple times last night. Way more than just the one time you guys were talking about."

"The chat room was blowing up about it," Lucas said, glancing over to something Barry couldn't see due to the fact that Lucas was simply a projected hologram. "Everyone else fell asleep though."

"Not me," Barry said with no small amount of pride. "I had to document the whole thing. Just a few minutes ago, there was a massive thunderbolt. You would think it was simply a Pokémon doing the move, but… there was something different about it." Lucas was interested.

"What was different exactly?"

"It was like a Smeargle painted all over it. The color was like a rainbow or something, dude!" Lucas' eyes filled with surprise.

"I've never heard of anything like that before," Lucas said, shifting his posture. "Here. Let's get on the chat. Let everyone else know."

"Right," Barry said as he pushed a button on the Holo Caster, cutting off the call. He picked up his chair and sat it in front of his computer. The chat client Shaype was already open, so he logged into the conversation and looked over the chat logs. "Lucas was right. Everyone seems to be really interested in this." He started typing into the text box.

'Barry o' Laughs: Hey guys. I found out a lot of stuff about the weird events on the mountain.' He sent the message and almost instantly got a response.

'warrior_of_light: Yeah, Barry. Tell us about it.' Barry saw that the message and knew who it was. That was Lucas' username, so of course he had logged on after their conversation.

'Dawn of Justice: Oh, really? I fell asleep after the first flash.' That was Dawn. Lucas probably told her about this whole thing. Barry smirked.

'Barry o' Laughs: Got a video of the whole thing.'

'Dawn of Justice: Ooooooo. :O Can we see it?' Barry laughed.

'warrior_of_light: Post it up on Mewtube. We gotta let everyone see it.' Barry pondered a moment before typing a response.

'Barry o' Laughs: I'm not sure if we should let the world know about this yet. I forgot to mention something about the footage.'

'warrior_of_light: Hmm? More than the flashes and the lightning?' Barry nodded, turning to glance at the mountain once again.

"They wouldn't believe what I saw," he said, turning back to the monitor.

'Barry o' Laughs: You guys aren't gonna believe this, but I saw Mesprit leave Lake Verity and fly off to the mountain.' Barry sat and waited for a reply for several minutes, before he began to type another message.

'Barry o' Laughs: Guys. Aaron is still on Mt. Coronet. He said he was going on that expedition yesterday. I don't know what is going on the mountain, but I'm getting a little worried with all this stuff happening.' As soon as he was done, Lucas responded immediately.

'warrior_of_light: So, that's it then. Barry, Dawn. We are taking a trip to Mt. Coronet.

* * *

"Oh my gosh, these pancakes are the best!" Sparks greedily shoved her face into the stack sitting on her plate. Blaze flashed a thumbs up at her.

"Damn right, they are." She put her talons behind her head and looked smugly at the gathered Pokémon. "Been awhile since I'll been able to bust out my supreme cooking skill."

"Not to burst your bubble, Blaze," Aaron said with a wry smile. "But these were pancake mix pancakes. You didn't really make them." Blaze narrowed her eyes, still grinning.

"You, criticizing my cooking skill?" she laughed. "I wouldn't be talking. Remember when you set that bowl of cereal on fire?"

"That was one time!" Aaron said with mock anger, making Blaze snicker.

"And now I get to teach you how to really set things on fire. Just you wait," Blaze said before shoving a pancake into her mouth. Zoey set down her plate beside her and looked seriously at the gathered Pokémon.

"We have to be really careful about training when Aaron is transformed," she said, looking at Aaron. She trained her gaze over to a saddened Sparks, who already knew what was coming. Zoey softened at the sight. "Sparks, what you did wasn't your fault, but it did reveal a new rule about the Keystone's transformations." Aaron, who was sitting next to Sparks, put his arm around her in a friendly gesture.

"Hey, cheer up. If anything, that whole thing actually helps us out in the long run." Sparks still looked a little downtrodden.

"I wish you didn't have to get hurt to learn that though." Sparks leaned up against Aaron as he patted her on the head.

"Better to find out here amongst friends than up against something that wouldn't care if I was hurt." Sparks nodded, allowing a little smile.

"Yeah, I guess it could be worse." She looked back to her plate and was happy once again. "Well, back to pancakes!" Aaron was glad she was feeling better, so he picked up his own plate and started chowing down.

"Alright," Blaze said, standing up and cracking her knuckles. "I'm finished with breakfast. I'm gonna go get ready to spar!" Blaze left her spot at the campfire ran back to the arena. Everyone watched as she stretched and started practicing.

"Well, you had better not keep her waiting," Zoey said. "You know how she gets when she's about to battle." Sparks put another piece of pancake into her mouth as Aaron stood up.

"This is gonna be awesome!" she said, the words slightly garbled from her chewing. Aaron sighed as he dashed off to join her. He excited to finally get to spar with Blaze again, but he already knew what was going to happen.

"She is gonna kick my ass," he thought as he reached the arena grounds. Blaze had just finished a wicked looking roundhouse kick as he stepped into the arena. She looked at him, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, you're ready to get this started already?"

"Of course! I'm not gonna let a little forced transformation get in the way of our sparring session." Blaze laughed.

"'course you aren't. Now." She held out her hand and beckoned Aaron toward her. "Here. Let's even the odds a little bit." Aaron nodded, catching her drift. He approached her and grabbed her taloned hand. The Keystone released its familiar glow as he felt Blaze's essence begin to run through his veins.

"OK, here goes." He reached behind him, grabbing his mane and touching the Keystone. The familiar sensations took hold as he allowed the energy to mold his body. His fur was being replaced by brilliant red feathers that spread all the way across his torso and his legs, which were slimming down and becoming more muscular. His feet began to change shape, with three talons replacing his toes as the bottom of his legs were covered in shaggy, yellow feathers. A little red tail popped out of his spine, the bizarre feeling of having another appendage manifesting once again. He felt a tingling sensation as masses of beige feathers grew around his neck and head. Behind his head, the feathers continued to grow until they were past his rear, splitting off into two parts, resembling a V. Keeping with that theme, a red V-shaped crest appeared on his forehead as his muzzle hardened out, becoming a sturdy red beak. Finally, the red feathers were at the end of his arms, his hands hardening and turning grey as talons formed. The Keystone returned as well, its colors emblazoned over a patch of feathers on and above his breasts.

Aaron exhaled as he opened his eyes, still grasping Blaze's hand. To his surprise, Blaze's face was completely pink with a blush. He decided to tease her, smirking as he released her hand.

"Well, don't keep me waiting, Blaze. How do I look?" Blaze gasped, trying to keep her cool.

"Oh man, dude. You really rock the whole Blaziken thing." As she looked his new appearance over, her face shifted into rage as she zeroed into a certain part of Aaron's body. Aaron was a little weirded out, but after following her stare, he realized what she was looking at.

"Alright, what's wrong with my boobs, Blaze? You know, besides the fact that I have them?" Blaze blushed even harder, seething with rage.

"Your boobs are way smaller than in your Ampharos and Zoroark forms! I got ripped off! Can't you see!?" Aaron deadpanned, watching the irate Blaziken rant and rave. He looked down at the offending body parts. His interest was peaked at the odd placement of the Keystone, its symbol painted onto the feathers on his chest. He took his hand and felt the spot, feeling the bristle of feathers on his talons.

"Interesting. Looks like the Keystone can adapt to fit somewhere no matter what form I take. Good to know." Blaze stopped her rambling and looked back to the Blaziken hybrid, her expression intense.

"Lucky for me, my righteous anger fills me with fighting spirit!" She dropped into her fighting stance. "Come on! I've been waiting for this for a long time."

"Not even gonna run me through your moves again?" Aaron said, adopting a similar stance and facing her.

"Don't make me laugh. You remember all of my moves," Blaze said, starting to strafe around Aaron slowly. Aaron did the same, moving right along with her.

"How could I forget." Aaron grinned wickedly as he quickly focused his energy and shot a constant stream of fire at his opponent. Blaze dived off to the side and avoided the Flamethrower.

"Ha! Not bad," she said, the flames on her hands lighting up with fire. "But let me return the favor!" She rushed towards Aaron and shot a Flamethrower right back.

"Gah!" Aaron ducked underneath the flames, barely avoiding the attack. "You missed me. Huh?" When he looked up, Blaze was nowhere to be seen. "What the hell?"

"Up here!" Aaron turned skyward just in time to see a foot connect with his face and send him hurtling to the ground. "Ha! That combo is the greatest. What's the matter? Giving up already?" Aaron growled, rubbing his face with a hand before jumping back to his feet in a practiced motion.

"No more fooling around," he said. Blaze took that as an invitation to go on the offensive. She ran toward him and launched punch after punch, Aaron managing to block only a few of her strikes.

"Considering all that has happened, I honestly thought this would be a slaughter," Blaze said, not letting up her attacks. She threw a punch at Aaron's shoulder, landing a big hit. Aaron cried out and fell to his knees, making Blaze stop. "You're doing a lot better than I expected." She recoiled in surprise when she saw a sudden flash in his eye.

"Gotcha," he whispered, before launching a fist right under her chin and jumping straight up in a devastating uppercut. Blaze went limp in the air, slamming onto the ground with a thud as Aaron landed from the attack.

"Aha! I still got it. My uppercut was always something, but now I have your Sky Uppercut to enhance it." Blaze groaned, rubbing her own chin as she propped herself up. She narrowed her eyes at him, baring her teeth in a grin.

"You magnificent bastard."

* * *

"Rin, wake up! You gotta come see this fight," Sparks said as she bounded into the tent, literally bouncing off the walls. Rin stirred, stretching and rubbing her eyes.

"What did I say about waking me up? I said to do it when it was my turn to teach him." Rin frowned, sitting up. "Why did I even say that? Of course it would be you who would wake me up anyway."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sparks said. Rin only shook her head in reply.

"Nothing. What did you want to show me?"

"Oh! Aaron and Blaze are sparring right now, and it's super cool! You gotta see it!" Rin nodded with satisfaction rising to her feet.

"I suppose that sounds at least a little exciting. Let's go," she said as she stepped out of the tent, Sparks bouncing happily behind her.

"Good morning, Rin." Zoey waved to her from her spot at the campfire to which Rin yawned in response.

"It's morning alright." Zoey rolled her eyes.

"See, I told you, Sparks. She wouldn't be very happy about you waking her up." Rin shrugged.

"Eh. At least I get to see some action," she said, lumbering over to a log and sitting down. "Oh, you made pancakes?"

"Uh huh! We saved some for you," Sparks said as she passed a plate of flapjacks to Rin. She licked her lips greedily.

"My morning is getting better already." She took a big bite as she watched the two Blazikens go at it again, the hybrid getting attacked with even more pressure than before from the normal one. Zoey, Rin, and Sparks cringed as the hybrid took another brutal blow to the face and being thrown to the ground. "Oh! It just got even better." Zoey looked downcast for a moment at seeing Aaron hurt, but she knew Blaze wouldn't bust him up that bad.

 _Come on, Zoey,_ she thought to herself. _He has to gain knowledge about being a Pokémon. Real battle experience will only help._ Nevertheless, she wished she could do something to help him. She was drawn away from her musings when she caught movement in the corner of her eye. She saw the bushes rustle right at the edge of the makeshift arena and she instinctively stood up and watched closely. She gasped as she saw a small form emerge from the bushes and sprint toward the downed hybrid. When she got a better look at what is was, her eyes widened.

"You!"

* * *

Aaron's vision was blurry as he lay flat on his back, still trying to recover from the blow. He laughed weakly as he felt a stream of blood run from his nose.

"Heh… You know I was never able to beat you." Blaze walked slowly to her incapacitated trainer and knelt down next to him.

"I know. But you did pretty good for your first time fighting like this." Aaron knew that her comment was genuine. Blaze didn't give out false compliments. He smiled.

"Thanks, Blaze." He breathed in and out, wiping the blood away from his nose. "I'll beat you someday, but today is obviously not that day."

"Yeah, right. Keep coming back, and I'll beat you again and again," she said with obnoxious confidence.

"You know what they say," Aaron warned, shooting a challenging look at her. "The bigger they are, the harder they fall."

"Come on, dude," she said, reaching her hand down to him to help him up. Before Aaron could take her hand, a small voice blurted something out from the nearby woods.

"WAIT! DON'T HURT HIM!"


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: A Life Saved, A Friend Made

By SmashUniverse64

Edited by crazedfoxmrn

Preread by ponyjesse and mandatorypanda

* * *

"Please!" A little brown fox creature hopped onto Aaron's chest, looking up at the Blaziken with tears in his eyes. "Don't hurt him! He saved my life!" Aaron looked quizzically at the little Pokémon who had curled up in a ball and was crying into his fur.

"Woah!" Blaze said, jumping back at the sudden appearance of the brown fox.

"I-I-I'm warning you," he said, not at all looking threatening in the slightest. Aaron, who had been dazed from his spare with Blaze, finally registered who was on top of him.

"Eevee? Wait…" He saw the residue bandages on the Eevee's stomach area and his eyes widened. "No way!" Blaze looked confused.

"You know this Eevee?" Aaron sat up, the Eevee losing his balance a bit and sliding down into his lap.

"You weren't there, but…" He picked up the Eevee and embraced him, making the little brown fox react with surprise. "Me and Zoey saved this little guy's life."

"By Arceus' name, Eevee! Is that you?" Aaron turned his head and saw Zoey running up to them. Eevee wagged his tail excitedly leaping out of Aaron's arms and right at her.

"Nice Zoroark lady!" Zoey gasped and quickly snatched the flying fox out of the air. Eevee nuzzled her as she hugged him back. Aaron got back to his feet.

"Eevee, I thought you went back to the forest where you came from. What are you doing here?" Eevee glanced at him, considering the question. His ears drooped as he put on a nervous expression.

"Well… I might have been following you guys for a little while." Blaze, Aaron, and Zoey all looked at each other incredulously.

"WHAT?!" They all shouted.

* * *

"So your name is Aaron, then." They had brought the Eevee back to camp and fed him some of the pancakes that Rin was willing to give up to feed the small child. He pointed to the Zoroark next. "And you're Zoey." He looked around to the other Pokémon. "I've never seen you guys before though." Sparks could barely contain a squeal.

"Oh my gosh, so cute!" she blurted out, making everyone laugh. Eevee blushed at her compliment as she beamed at him. "My name is Sparks!" Rin and Blaze took this as an opportunity to introduce themselves as well.

"Heyya! I'm Blaze. Just for the record, me and Aaron were sparring. I wasn't gonna hurt him really bad." Eevee was still a little shaken from watching their fight, but he nodded anyway.

"OK. I was just scared a little bit. I trust you, Miss Blaziken." Blaze smiled at his politeness, and Rin nodded in approval.

"Such manners! I appreciate that in a child. I'm Rin. Nice to meet you," the Dragonite said, bowing to him.

"Hi, Rin. Nice to meet you all." Aaron looked down at the little fox and frowned.

"It's really good to see that you are OK, Eevee. But we have to ask you some questions now," he said with a seriousness that Eevee dreaded.

"Aaron, we're not interrogating this little kid, are we?" Zoey asked him. "He's really scared." Aaron sighed, understanding what Zoey was saying.

"Yeah, I guess you're right." He looked down to the cowering Pokémon and gave a patient smile. "We promise we won't be mad at you. We just wanted to know how you found us here." Eevee breathed a sigh of relief as he smiled back at him.

"Thank you. I'll tell you everything that happened." He gestured to the woods behind him. "After you and Zoey saved my life, I ran around in the woods for a while." He stopped for a moment, looking down at the ground looking uncomfortable. "I was… being followed by someone before I got hurt."

"Someone was chasing you?" Zoey looked intrigued, leaning forward on her chair. She decided not to press for details right now, knowing he would probably get too scared to continue.

"Yes…" Eevee admitted sadly. "When I was running away, I fell off the side of the mountain. I would have been done for if you two hadn't been there." Aaron saw the pain in his eyes and thought back to his own near-death experience. It seemed so long ago, when in reality it was just yesterday.

"So then we got there just in time to save you. Oh my gosh, I'm so glad we were able to help you."

"And for that, I'm really grateful," Eevee said warmly. "Anyway," he continued, "I was really afraid that whoever was chasing me were going to find me and try to hurt me again." He sniffled. "Sorry about this, but I've following you ever since then." The Pokémon and the Blaziken hybrid sitting around him looked at each other.

"So, you've seen a lot of what has happened," Aaron said. Eevee nodded.

"I saw you turn into a Zoroark thing when you had fallen too. I wish I could've gotten some help for you like you did for me."

"Don't feel bad about that. That's over and done with. Now, what else did you see?" Zoey said, motioning for him to continue.

"I followed you guys back to your camp and watched when you fought those Gravelers, too." Eevee felt a little bit better when he talked about that. "That was so cool the way you scared them off. You guys all must be really strong!" Every surrounding Pokémon smiled at the kind words. "I figure that because you guys are so strong, you might be able to help me."

"Aw, we'd be happy to help someone as adorable as you," Sparks said, her eyes lit up with sparkles from Eevee's cuteness. "Right, guys?" Blaze shrugged.

"I don't see a problem with having someone else come along. We have quite a ways to go anyway."

"Indeed. The more the merrier, as they say," Rin agreed.

"I'd like to be around if that person who is after you catches up," Aaron said. "I'd like to know some more about that." Eevee threw himself at the Blaziken hybrid and laughed all the way.

"Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!" Aaron caught the little fox and snuggled him gently. Eevee looked up at him, beaming. "Thank you, Aaron. And all the rest of you. I promise I won't get into anymore trouble." Zoey snickered.

"Are you kidding? Trouble can never get anyway from this little group." She grinned, standing and petting him. "Welcome to the group." Rin, Blaze, and Sparks all stood and gathered around Eevee and Aaron too. As they all embraced each other, Aaron felt the warm energy of the Keystone flow through his body, making him smile at the feeling. Sparks suddenly jumped in the air and cheered.

"Yay! We made a new friend!"

* * *

"Boss, I have a new report," a female voice said through her headset. She stared down at the group of Pokémon lower on the mountain. "It looks like the target has made some new friends."

"Damn it… we were too late," another voice said back to her. "Ugh, return to base and give me the full report." The girl sighed, nodding.

"Understood." She stood up and ran into the cave entrance behind her, disappearing without a trace.

* * *

Rin and Aaron were standing the middle of the arena, watching as Zoey, Blaze, Sparks, and even little Eevee started to clean up the camp site. Aaron looked to Rin and scratched the back of his head.

"I kinda wish we were over there helping them. But it is necessary that we get this done before we move on." Rin nodded.

"Exactly." She spread her wings wide. "We're not gonna focus on combat for this lesson though," she said, pointing back at the wings. "I'm gonna teach you how to fly!" Aaron was taken aback by the prospect that he could actually fly.

"Wow. That's a crazy thought." He looked lost in thought for a moment, a smile spreading across his beak. "I never would have thought yesterday that I'd be able to fly." Rin chuckled.

"Really? That's the thing you didn't think would happen?" Aaron looked offended but then started to laugh himself.

"Yeah, I guess that's kinda silly. Flight really isn't all that farfetched anymore." Rin stepped toward him and put her hand on his shoulder. The Keystone on Aaron's chest lit up, both the hybrid and the dragon nodding.

"You ready?" Rin asked.

"Yeah. Hybridize me, captain!" Aaron tapped the rainbow color spot on his chest and he was overtaken by the energy, releasing the blinding light it always did. He felt his feathers start to fall away, leaving cream-colored scales on his torso and orange-colored flesh on the rest of his body. The little tail he already had expanded outward to become even longer than his Ampharos tail, covering itself with scales as well. His face shrank down a little, losing the hardness of the beak and gaining the same orange flesh as the body. The long feathers on the back of his head shrank back, but more protrusions appeared in its place. A small cone-shaped horn sprouted in the center of his forehead as two antennae grew out from the top of his head. His hands and feet became bulkier and reformed into big claws as the rest of his body filled out as well, becoming rounder and curvier in some places more than others. He felt the Keystone return on his horn, it becoming as vibrant as the rainbow and having the familiar symbol on it. Finally, he felt two unfamiliar appendages form out of his spine that would give him the power of flight. The light dissipated, revealing the new hybrid to the Dragonite in front of him.

"You look good," Rin said, smiling. She turned to the camp and shouted out loud. "Sparks, you owe me five-hundred bucks!" Sparks heard Rin and screamed at the top of her lungs.

"Are you serious!? His boobs got bigger than when he was me!? GAH!" She threw down a box containing a folded-up tent. Rin giggled, making Aaron deadpan.

"Really?"

"What?" Rin said, not feeling guilty in the slightest. "We made a little wager."

"About my breast size? That's just…" Aaron couldn't even finish his sentence from the massive disappointment he suddenly felt toward his Pokémon. He smacked his hand against his head over and over again.

"Lighten up, Aaron," Rin said approaching him. "Just know that this form is easily the best one yet."

"You're implying that I was comparing how good these forms were Did you forget the part where I kinda hated being stuck like this?"

"Remember what we talked about?" Rin said, putting on a warmer expression. "Even though this whole thing may suck, you gotta embrace it. This form lets you do some amazing things." She pointed to Aaron's wings, which he had spread out unconsciously. "We're gonna get to that right now." Aaron shook his head, trying to drop his frown.

"Yeah…" He looked at his wings and tried to move them. He still felt it was so surreal that he had control over three appendages he never had before. "Woah." He felt a giddy grin start to appear as he made them flap. "This is way too cool!"

"Indeed," Rin said, spreading her own wings. "Now we are gonna use them." With one big flap, Rin launched herself into the sky, Aaron looking up in awe. She beckoned for him to join her. "Come on! Just give them a go!"

"Alright!" He gave his wings a sharp flap and he found himself being propelled into the air at massive speed. "Oh, my Arceus! This is so cool!" He was so excited in fact that he didn't realize that he was hurtling back to the earth.

"Aaron, look out!" Rin tried to warn him, but it was too late.

"Oof!" Aaron slammed face first into the ground, getting a mouthful of dirt in the process. Rin facepalmed, swooping down to the ground.

"Well, practice makes perfect as they say."

* * *

Barry stepped out of his house in Twinleaf Town and started toward the walking path where his first adventure began all those years ago. He walked over to the little wooden sign right at the entrance and sat down in front of it. He reached into his loaded backpack and pulled out a sandwich he had made for breakfast. It was huge, being layered with strip of bacon upon strip of bacon upon stacks of ham and cheese.

"Breakfast is served!" he said with gusto as he took a big bite out of the sandwich. "Lucas and Dawn can take all the time they want to get here."

"Come on, Barry. We didn't need long." Barry shrieked like a little girl at the sudden appearance of his best friend, who was standing behind the sign grinning smugly. Barry turned and saw that a girl was standing with him, one who he knew very well.

"Your reaction was priceless!" Dawn laughed, making Barry growl as he scrambled to his feet.

"What the hell, guys? How do you do that? I didn't even see you coming!" Lucas smirked, glancing off to the side.

"It's one of life's great mysteries." Dawn giggled and Barry groaned.

"Oh, shut up," Barry said, throwing his backpack around his shoulder. "You guys ready to head up the mountain?"

"We have quite a ways to go," Dawn replied, opening her bag. "I packed a lot of stuff for the walk there and the hike if we have to do that. We can save some time if we hop on our bikes too." Lucas flashed a thumbs up.

"Looks like we are all set. Let's go find Aaron." The group of trainers looked at each other briefly before setting off down the small forest path. Lucas smiled at the familiar sights and smells of the woods. "Just like old times, huh?"

"What is it with you and cliché game protagonist dialogue?" Dawn rolled her eyes.

"Lucas, a game protagonist? Yeah, right." Lucas hung his head sighing while the other two heroes laughed at his expense.

"Here we go again."


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: The Long Way

By SmashUniverse64

Edited by crazedfoxmrn

Preread by ponyjesse, mandatorypanda, and Nitwitsworld

* * *

"Are we there yet?" Everyone in the group groaned as they continued walking along the side of the dirt path down the mountain. Aaron looked irritably to the anxious Ampharos who was lagging behind.

"Sparks, you literally asked that thirty seconds ago," the Dragonite hybrid said, glancing behind as he continued walking. "And we left the campsite five minutes ago." Sparks looked oblivious to this fact, tilting her head questioningly.

"Really? It doesn't feel like it." The morning sun had now gotten up a little more, looking about nine o'clock given its position. Of course, they weren't in the direct sunlight on the road, but instead in the underbrush alongside it. After all, Aaron kinda didn't look like any human anyone else had ever seen. They didn't want to risk being seen.

"We should be moving faster…" Blaze was at the front of the pack, trudging along with boredom. "Rin, Aaron. You both have wings. Why don't we just fly back to Twinleaf?" Rin shook her head.

"There is no way I'm letting Aaron fly back. He can barely control himself in the air even after getting the hang of it. That distance would be far too risky," Rin said, looking to Aaron with a non offensive expression. Aaron nodded, understanding her reasoning.

"Plus, a few of us don't have any Pokéballs to travel in," Zoey added, gesturing to herself and the little Eevee next to her. Blaze rolled her eyes and slumped forward comically.

"Ugh. Can we at least get some idea of where we are going?" Aaron reached into the reachable pocket in the backpack on his back and pulled out his old PokéNav. He had gotten it several years ago and it didn't have all of the new communication features that the new PokéNav Plus had. Even the Match Call feature was completely discontinued on the original. To think, he could have given someone a call if he had that. He opened the map application and checked their location.

"We are on the east side of the mountain and heading south." When he zoomed in on Sinnoh's map, he noticed something. "Looks like we'll be outside Hearthome City within an hour if we keep it up at this pace."

"A whole hour!?" Sparks and Blaze both shouted, stopping in their tracks. The other Pokémon and the hybrid continued walking past them, not bothering to address the two lazy bones.

"When you are done with your death wails, come on and catch up with us," Rin said, chuckling. Blaze and Sparks looked at each other with embarrassment before running to catch up with the pack.

"I just wish we had something to do. Walking is so boring," Blaze sulked. If they would have been paying more attention, they would have noticed the footsteps coming from the forest trail to their left.

* * *

"Danielle, come on!" two small female voices shouted as they sped up the trail. "We gotta check out the mountain!" A slightly older girl in a Pikachu-themed shirt and blue jeans chased after them.

"Lil, Emma! You gotta slow down," Danielle said, shaking her head and sprinting to keep up with the twins. "We have no idea what happened there! We shouldn't be going off by ourselves!" Lil and Emma, unmoved from their friend's warnings, kept running, their matching pink hoodies being shaken by the wind.

"Who cares? This will be fun for a change," Lil yelled back, turning around and running backwards to look at Danielle. Emma did the exact same thing, grinning.

"Yeah, we can only hang around on old Route 209 for so long. We've always wanted to do some exploring!" Danielle frowned, increasing her pace.

"And you two decided that running off into the woods and up the mountain into a situation was the best way to do that?"

"Well, obviously," the twins both said, turning back to the trail and speeding up.

"I can't believe those two." She recalled all of the antics she and the twins had gotten themselves into in the past. They lived in Hearthome City, so most of their playing was done in Amity Square or the nearby Route 209. That had been their hangout for several years now. In between school and bedtime back at home, they would come to the little pond of Route 209 and practice their Pokémon battling, even challenging random travelers who would come down the path. They had improved a lot in their battling skill, but there was still a lot to learn. Sometimes they would go for a swim too, but Fisherman Jenkins didn't like them disturbing the fish. Danielle was drawn out of her musings when she saw the twins slow down to a complete stop on the path.

"What's going on?" she asked as she stopped next to them, catching her breath.

"Don't be so loud," Lil said, pointing into the forest on the left side.

"There is something right there," Emma followed Lil's hand to the underbrush and shivered. "Looks like a bunch of Pokémon are back there!" She stood next to her sister and hugged her tightly. Danielle looked and saw that they were right. It looked like there was something out there. She moved to the twins and motioned them to get down.

"Keep your heads down. It could be something dangerous." Danielle focused intently on the shifting sounds in the forest. Her eyes widened when she heard the distinct cries of various Pokémon. "Dragonite, Blaziken, Ampharos, Zoroark, and Eevee." She listened closer. "They seem to be traveling together, given their dialect." She was very good at analysing the speech of Pokémon, given her high-ranking membership in the Hearthome Pokémon Fanclub.

"Are they with a trainer?" Emma asked quietly.

"If I had to guess. Some of these Pokémon aren't native to Sinnoh." Danielle, feeling a little brave, raised her head over the bush to get a look at the Pokémon on the other side. She counted them in her head, with Lil and Emma cowering under her and waiting for a report. "I was right. Dragonite, Blaziken, Ampharos, Zoroark, Eevee…" She stopped, her eyes widening.

"Danielle, what's wrong?" Lil and Emma both asked. Danielle motioned them to take a look themselves. They rose from their sitting position and they too stared in shock at what they saw.

"A Dragonite girl!?" Lil suddenly shouted. Danielle and Emma stared at her in horror. "Oops," she said quietly.

* * *

"A Dragonite girl!?" Aaron whipped his head around at the sound of a girl's voice.

"What the hell?" Sparks reacted in panic, running around frantically trying find a tree big enough to hide behind.

"Ah! We've been spotted! Hide me!" Blaze and Rin both dived to the ground into a bush. Aaron watched the pandemonium happening around him and mostly ignored it. They had obviously been seen by someone. He moved toward the general area where he heard the voice: the path they had been avoiding in the first place. Aaron spotted Zoey moving toward the pathway too, obviously trying to catch a glimpse of the people who had seen them.

" _We are gonna have to convince them to not say anything. We don't need news of your transformation to get out."_ Aaron heard Zoey's voice in his head and nodded. He hoped they wouldn't have to do something drastic. Suddenly, Zoey disappeared from view, using a illusion to make herself seem invisible. Aaron realized he didn't know how to do that as a Zoroark. He would have to train with Zoey later.

"You see anyone?" Aaron whispered to Zoey. She didn't respond for a second. Aaron tilted his head. "What do you see?"

" _Aaron. It's people we know."_

* * *

" _Danielle? Is that you?"_

Danielle jumped a little as she heard a voice in her head, although she raised her head up a little bit from behind the bush.

"W-w-who are you?" She managed to stutter out.

" _Surely you remember me."_ The voice giggled a little bit. _"Well, I suppose it has been a while."_ Danielle's eyes suddenly widened as she remembered something. A big smile spread across her face as she stood up quickly, making the twins look at her oddly.

"Are you out of your mind, Danielle?" they both whispered, still trying to maintain their hidden stance even after Lil's outburst. Danielle leaped out of her place in the bush, grinning widely.

"Zoey!" The twins looked at her as she ran toward the edge of the forest. When they saw her get picked up by a strikingly familiar Zoroark, they both gasped.

" _Lil! Emma!"_ The Zoroark said, waving at them as she embraced Danielle. _"Remember me?"_

* * *

"We've made contact," Aaron said from his hiding place on the edge of the forest. Blaze, Rin, Sparks, and Eevee nodded eagerly as Zoey laughed with the three familiar children. "Good. It seems like they remember her."

"Oh. You know those girls?" Eevee asked, looking at happy reunion with curiosity.

"Well, what did you expect?" Blaze said, smirking. "We came around good ol' 209 all the time when we stayed in Sinnoh all those years ago. These three were always here."

"It was always fun!" Sparks said. "Even if we caused a bit of trouble when we were around here."

"I remember when you accidently electrocuted all of us when we were taking a swim. Thank goodness it wasn't a Thunderbolt, or we probably would have crawled out of the river extra crispy," Rin giggled. Sparks looked at her with fire in her eyes.

"You know it wasn't my fault! If Danielle hadn't snuck up behind me and scared me, it wouldn't have happened!"

" _Girls, Aaron, Eevee!"_ They all heard Zoey's voice in their heads, getting their attention. _"Come on out! They want to see you!"_ All of the Pokémon nodded, bounding out to meet the three friends from the past. Except for Aaron. He hung back in the woods, looking down at his body and frowning.

"How are they gonna react to seeing me like this?" He put his arms under his breasts and lifted them. "They are definitely not going to recognize me looking like this. Will they freak out?" He heard the happy sounds of his Pokémon and the three human girls as they reunited. "Maybe I should just wait in here. I don't want to be seen like this yet."

"Aaron, I know you are in there,"he heard Zoey say in her natural voice. He watched her step into the wood, looking at him pleadingly. "I told them that you were here. They want to see you too."

"Zoey. You know how I feel about this body. We can't risk them telling people about this. Plus… it's just embarrassing," he said, looking sadly down as his Dragonite body. Zoey approached him with a tender smile.

"I told that you would be here too. Come on, Aaron. I'll be right there with you the whole time. They won't freak out, I know it."

"You don't know that!" Aaron said with desperation. When Zoey recoiled from his outburst, he looked very sad. "See? I can't even control my emotions anymore. This body is messing with me in more ways than one." Zoey shook her head and quickly grabbed Aaron's hand, making him gasp.

"You can't psyche yourself out so much. Here," she said, reaching to the Keystone on his horn. "Maybe this will help." As she made contact with his horn, he felt the bright light spread over him again, making his Dragonite form fall away to reveal his black and gray fur. He felt his long mane return too as his body shrank down back to the fairly modest proportions he had started with. He smiled as he felt the energy dissipate, looking into the Zoroark's eyes.

"Back to the basics, huh?" he said, looking over his Zoroark body once again. "You know, I do feel a little bit better." Zoey embraced him tightly, with him wrapping his arms around her too.

"We'll tell them what happened to you and they'll understand." Zoey looked him the eyes and smiled. "Let's go." He smiled back and held her hand tightly as they stepped out onto the path.

* * *

"Ah! Guys, my feet are killing me! Can we stop now?" Barry was complaining at the top of his lungs as they exited the forest. Dawn laughed at her friend's antics.

"Barry, we barely went anywhere. We just got to Sandgem if you didn't notice."

"If you're that tired already, maybe you should just stay here and rest at Rowan's house," Lucas said with a smirk.

"You two don't understand! I stayed up all night last night! I'm so beat already…"

"Sounds like you could use some coffee." The three friends turned their heads at the new voice. They saw an older man with white hair and a white beard approaching them. He gave them a little wave and a small smile. "Hello there, my friends." Barry, Lucas, and Dawn looked at each other and grinned.

"Hey, Professor Rowan!" Dawn said, waving back to him. "How are you?"

"Just fine, Dawn," he said as he walked up to them. "What are you kids doing on such a fine morning?"

"We're taking a little trip," Lucas said, pointing to Barry. "Barry saw some weird flashes of light coming from Mt. Coronet last night." Rowan nodded.

"I figured you kids would go to check that out." Barry comically shook his fist in anger.

"Kids? Oh, come on, Gramps! We aren't kids anymore!" Lucas laughed.

"Yeah, if you consider sixteen an adult age. Get real, dude," Lucas said. He only smiled when Barry started ranting angrily. Rowan shook his head, smiling too despite himself.

"Seems like nothing has changed after all these years." Dawn giggled as she approached her teacher.

"Professor, if you don't mind me asking, how did you know about the stuff happening at the mountain?"

"I stayed up all night watching the going-ons." He took a big swig of the coffee mug in his hand. "That's why this comes in handy."

"AHA!" Barry shouted, pointing at Lucas. "See? It wasn't just me that did stayed up all night!" Lucas rolled his eyes, still smiling wryly. Rowan turned his head to Barry.

"So you saw the other flashes too." Barry nodded. "Why are you going to Mt. Coronet in the first place?

"Weeeeeell," Barry hesitated. He looked at Lucas and Dawn, who both nodded for him to continue. "OK. We're worried about someone who is on the mountain right now. Remember Aaron?" Rowan nodded, knowing exactly who he was talking about. "Yeah. He's up there right now and we have no idea if he is alright or not."

"I see." Rowan started back to his house quickly, gesturing for the friends to follow him. "Come on in for a moment, all of you. Barry, I'll get you some coffee."


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9: The Setup**

by SmashUniverse64

* * *

"What…" Emma said.

"Is..." Lil followed.

"That?" Danielle finished as Zoey led a strange creature out of the trees. Danielle was in awe. She'd never seen anything like it. "Holy Surskit..."

It looked very much like a Zoroark, especially with Zoey standing right next to it, but it's body structure was completely different. It looked like some kind of hybrid between a Zoroark and a human. It had the long mane, claws, and black and grey fur of a Zoroark, but it wasn't hunched over like one. It stood tall on two legs like a human, and it had the proportions to match. It was obviously female, as evidenced by the modestly large breasts and the wide hips. It was the most bizarre thing Danielle had ever seen. Zoey smiled at the human girls before gesturing to the creature, who was blushing profusely.

" _Lil, Emma, Danielle. I'd like to reintroduce you to Aaron,"_ Zoey said. Danielle and the twins heard what she said, but they both slowly shifted their expression to one of absolute confusion.

"Wh-wh-what?" the twins both sputtered out. The creature that Zoey called Aaron raised her hand and waved at them.

"Um… hi, girls. It's been a little while." She shifted nervously, not knowing exactly how to continue. "I know I look kinda different but…"

" _This is the exact same Aaron as the one you remember,"_ Zoey finished. The human girls stared at Zoey and slowly drifted their gaze back to the hybrid.

"But… Aaron's not a Zoroark thing," Emma said, shaking her head. Lil nodded.

"Yeah, and he's not a girl either!" The two sisters crossed their arms and posed back to back, looking at the two Zoroarks with scrutiny.

"Girls, come on!" the hybrid said, taking a step toward them. Her (His?) face had a look of desperation. "How can I prove to you that I am really Aaron?" Danielle took a step toward the hybrid, feeling a little bit braver than before.

"Hm… How about you answer three questions that only Aaron would know the answer to. How about it, girls?" Emma and Lil nodded, standing next to Danielle in a horizontal line. "Great!" She gave the gathered Pokémon a little glare. "And you girls can't answer these questions! These are for Aaron, er, I mean the hybrid." Blaze, Rin, and Sparks nodded, but didn't speak as they knew that the human girls wouldn't understand.

"Wait, don't I get a say in this?" the hybrid tried to

"Me first! Close your eyes please," Lil said, stepping forward. The hybrid did so, laughing a little bit at Lil's sudden confidence. When she saw the hybrid closing her eyes, Lil grabbed her sister's hands and spun around rapidly.

"Waaaah!" Emma screamed as she was spun around. When Lil finally stopped, Emma was stumbling and almost falling over from dizziness.

"People usually can't tell us apart because of our looks and our voices sounding identical, but we told Aaron the one way to tell us apart." Lil and Emma stood side by side after Emma's dizziness faded. "Alright, open your eyes!" The hybrid looked upon the twins, and she was already smiling.

"Easy," she said, approaching Emma. She adjusted her red bow on Emma's head a little bit and smiled. "Emma, you always manage to wear your bow crooked. Lil keeps hers perfect." Once she was done messing with it, the bow was still crooked on her head. The hybrid stepped back, ready for the next question.

"You got it!" Lil said. "Emma, it's your question now."

"Right," Emma said, stepping up to the hybrid and giving a little wave. "Um… Hi, Aaron."

"We don't know if the hybrid is Aaron yet," Danielle said, a wry smile on her face.

"Oh… I guess you are right." Emma shifted a little in her place. "OK, I think I have a good question for Aaron. If it is really you."

"Go ahead," the hybrid said.

"OK. There was a reason that Aaron hung out with us a lot here on Route 209. What was the reason?" The hybrid grimaced, looking a little embarrassed. It wasn't long before she was smiling again though.

"Ugh… why'd you have to remind me about this?" The human girls laughed at the hybrid's mock discomfort, but she went on. "After losing spectacularly against Fantina, she recommended for me to try out Pokémon contests until she returned from her trip back home to Kalos." She shook her head. "I had to stay here for several weeks just to prepare for contests, and so I often went out here to practice. That's when I met you girls."

"You're right!" Emma said. "That's two for two!"

"Right," Danielle said, stepping up to the hybrid. She was staring into her eyes, noticing the particular color of blue in her eyes. It looked very much like Aaron… "Now for my question." Danielle smirked.

"Oh, boy." The hybrid looked nervous, and Danielle saw that as a good sign. At this point, she already knew that the hybrid was Aaron, but she wanted to mess with him a little bit.

"What Pokémon are you afraid of more than anyone else?" Danielle suddenly pulled a Pokéball out from her backpack and released a Pokémon in front of Aaron. When the Zoroark hybrid looked down, his eyes widened in fear.

"HOLY ARCEUS, GET THAT THING AWAY FROM ME!" Aaron shouted, turning tail and sprinting back into the forest. The gathered Pokémon and humans burst into laughter except for Eevee, who just looked confused.

"Aron?" The small steel creature looked very confused himself. Danielle approached her Pokémon and patted it on the back.

"Good job, buddy." She looked to her two friends and flashed them a thumbs up. "Looks like that Zoey wasn't lying. No other trainer I know is that deathly afraid of Aron."

* * *

"Why did you have to do that?" About fifteen minutes later, Rin had finally found Aaron and brought him back to the pathway. Lucky for him, Danielle decided to put Aron away for now. They were walking down forest trail they had been before. "You know how I feel about those devilish monsters!" Danielle laughed, giving him a playful shove.

"That's a little bit mean, Aaron. Aron didn't do anything to you." She smirked. "He was just trying to say hello." Aaron rolled his eyes. Lil and Emma caught up to the hybrid who was currently leading the group.

"How could you be scared of something so adorable anyway?" Lil asked.

"There's a story behind that, but I'd rather not talk about it," Aaron said, shivering from the horrible memory. Never again would he try to catch a Steel-type Pokémon that is falling from a tree.

"We have a lot of questions for you, especially now that you look like this," Emma said. Danielle and Lil were quick to agree with her.

"Ask away," Aaron said, smiling down at his friends. "We've got a while before we get to Hearthome anyway."

"Well, first thing's first," Danielle said. "How did this happen to you in the first place?" Aaron shook his head, staring at the ground.

"I'm… not entirely sure. While I was on the mountain last night I-"

"You were on the mountain last night!?" Lil and Emma both blurted out. "Did you see the big lights?" Aaron looked over her shoulder to Zoey with a look that said 'what do I tell them?' Zoey nodded.

"Girls, I don't know exactly how it happened, but I think that I was the cause of those lights." The human girls all gasped. "It's the whole reason I look like this now," he said with a little bit of sadness as he looked down at his form. He quickly snapped out of it though.

"Does it have anything to do with this?" Danielle said, grabbing the Keystone in Aaron's hair.

"Eep!" Aaron felt Danielle's hands on the Keystone as if it was still attached to her. "Please be careful with that!" he shouted. "This was the thing that saved my life!"

"And the thing that turned you into a weird hybrid thing," Lil said.

"And a girl," Emma added. Sparks and Blaze burst out laughing at the exchange, making Aaron grimace.

"That's… that's not the part I'm focusing on," Aaron said, flustered from the comments about his body. "I've got to contact Professor Rowan right away so he can help me go back to normal."

"You could come to Hearthome City with us!" Danielle said. "There's gotta be someone there who can help you."

" _The only problem with that is the fact that Aaron doesn't exactly look like a human,"_ Zoey said, walking up close to them. _"We don't want to draw attention to him. It could cause a panic."_

"Right…" Aaron admitted, looking down at himself and grimacing. "I was lucky that you girls didn't freak out and run off. Not everyone would react the same way."

"That night be true, but we know someone who might be able to help you," Danielle said. "Remember Bebe?" Aaron nodded at the mention of that name.

"Of course I do," Aaron said. Suddenly he had a realization. "Ah! She has contact with Professor Rowan!"

"That's right," Danielle said, smiling. Just ahead of them, the path they had been walking along split off onto a bigger path. Just down the way, they could see the east city terminal leading into Hearthome City. Lots of trainers were walking in and out.

"Huh. Looks like we already made it," Aaron said, crouching down and watching humans walking around. Luckily, there was no way he could be seen from the distance they were at. His coloration certainly helped too. His Pokémon (and Eevee) sat behind him, and the human girls were right next to him. "So," Aaron said, looking to everyone, "what's the plan?"

"This might take some setup time, but I think I have an idea," Danielle said, glancing off to the side of the city entrance. "You know about the back way into Amity Square, right?"

"Of course. We've been back there enough time to go our way around," Aaron said. "Why?"

"Emma, Lil, give him… the device," she said, grinning at the sisters.

"Right!" Lil and Emma said, snapping into a salute before digging around in their backpacks they had packed for their hike up the mountain. They pulled out four yellow walkie talkies and held them up.

"Oh, brother…" Aaron sighed, already seeing where this was gonna go.

* * *

" _Alright, team. Let's set the plan in motion,"_ Danielle said through the walkie talkie. _"Aaron, are you in position?"_

" _Yup,"_ Aaron replied from his own walkie. _"I'm up in a tree right next to the pond. That's as far as I could make it without being too obvious."_ There was a rustling in the background. _"Hey! Get out of here, Starly! You'll blow my cover!"_

Zoey watched as a very angry Starly flew out of a nearby tree, shouting very offensive words as he flew out of the park. She couldn't help but crack a smile even in their situation. Clutching her walkie talkie tightly, she glanced around Amity Square, checking to see if the whole team was in the right place. She and Eevee were sitting on a park bench near the pond while Blaze and Sparks together. Rin was circling the park overhead at a high altitude. Eevee was shaking next to Zoey, and he suddenly turned to her to speak to everyone.

"Girls," Eevee said into the device. "I'm a little scared. Is this even gonna work?" Eevee asked as he and Aaron's Pokémon sat in wait. "There are a lot of people around…"

" _We just have to wait for the right window,"_ Rin said, scanning the surrounding area with keen eyes. Eevee was right; Amity Square was very busy that day. A jogger ran around the pond with her Monferno right next to her, and lots of boys were playing on the small island in the center of the pond.

" _Well, we aren't making much progress just sitting here,"_ Blaze said. _"Lil, Emma, and Danielle ran ahead to tell Bebe we were coming, right? From the way this is looking, we won't be there for six weeks!"_ Blaze snarked, making Sparks burst into laughter.

"Maybe what we need is a distraction. Something that can draw away attention just long enough to get Aaron inside the city without being seen," Zoey said. There was a pause.

" _Well… I've been wanting to go swimming for a while,"_ Sparks said.

"That's… that's it!" Zoey said, spotting her and Blaze near the side of the pond. She smiled again, knowing exactly what to do. "You better do the biggest cannonball of your life, Sparks."

 _"I can help with that,"_ Blaze said with no small amount of smugness. _"After all, I've picked up and tossed rocks way bigger than you."_

" _Yes, Blaze is gonna throw me in! This'll be fun!"_ Sparks cheered.

"You got that, Aaron? When you hear the big splash, book it toward the west entrance," Zoey said. She spotted the Amity Square receptionist at the west entrance step out from behind her desk. It was the scheduled lunch break that the human girls had told them about. "Alright, the window is open! Whenever you are ready!"

"Please be careful everyone," Eevee said. "I don't want this to be messed up."

" _Don't worry, little dude,"_ Blaze said, flashing him and Zoey a thumbs up from her place next to the pond. _"We are certified experts of distraction, right Sparks?"_

" _Wait… I don't have any official certification. So maybe I'm not an exper-woah!"_ Sparks was interrupted by Blaze picking her up and holding her over her head.

" _Holy Arceus, you are heavy,"_ Blaze said, struggling a little bit. _"You need to lay off the poffins."_ With one big windup, Blaze heaved Sparks into the air at an impressive height.

"CANNONBALL!" Sparks shouted. Her call was so loud that everyone in the square turned at the sound, and then they couldn't look away. The Ampharos curled into a ball as she neared the water.

The resulting splash was so big that a substantial amount of the pond water launched out onto the walking path. All the kids in the island in the middle of the pond were drenched, as well as one very shocked jogger and her Monferno. Needless to say, everyone in the square had their attention occupied.

"Aaron, now!" In a flash, the dark figure of Aaron dropped down from the tree and made a beeline toward the west entrance. He vaulted over the white fence next to the building and slipped between the entrance building and the trees.

Aaron was huffing and puffing as he relaxed for a moment. _"OK… I made it to cover."_

"Good work, everyone," Zoey said, standing up and gesturing for Eevee to follow.

"Thank goodness," Eevee said, his spirits rising considerably.

" _Nice. I could see that splash from here!"_ Danielle said, giggling through the walkie talkie. " _Bebe has her back window open at her lab_ , _so she knows you are coming. Time to initiate Phase 2."_


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10: Safer and Sounder**

By SmashUniverse64

* * *

The house in Hearthome City was spacious and wide, most of the room being dominated by the computer and the giant server base it was connected to. A living room area with a few stools and couch were in front of the huge HD TV. It was on and showing some kid's show, but that was not the focus of the house's only inhabitant.

The blonde haired girl sat at her computer screen, running diagnostics on the new software she had been co-developing with some friends from around the world. A new unified Pokémon storage system, a cloud based one that could allow for trainers to easily transfer their Pokémon worldwide and not just locally within the region. She was working coding the new UI for the project, absentmindedly thinking about the girls who were just here.

"They said to expect a visitor… not sure if they are just playing pranks on me or not," she mused to herself. She had been told to keep her window open by the little girls she always saw outside the city.

"We can't tell you why but it's really, really important!"they had said. Even Danielle, the eldest and wisest of the children had insisted the same thing before leaving her house.

She had decided to keep her word just to be nice to them, but the high noon sun was really making her regret it. "That's such a pain… is someone gonna dive through the window or something? Come on…"

A hard thumping of feet from the outside made her head turn her head to the large window right next to her.

"Look ouuuut!" someone with a female voice cried out. The girl had no time to brace herself for the huge black, grey and red ball of hair that launched itself through her window.

"Aaaaaah!" Bebe screamed as she and the indiscernible fluffy mass collided, becoming a tangled heap of limbs on the orange and yellow tiled floor. After taking a moment to catch her breath, Bebe looked at just what had arrived through her window.

It was at that point that Bebe froze. The creature, the one who looked like a Zoroark but with the body type of a human woman, was in full view, the light of the sun shining directly upon her. As the creature tried to rise up, using one arm to support her and the other to rub her forehead, several questions were running through the blonde scientist's head.

 _Human body shape… yet it looks like a Pokémon? How is that possible? Where did it come from?_ She hardly noticed when the creature got a good look at Bebe and smiled widely.

"Hey Bebe! Holy crap, it feels like forever since I've seen you!" the creature said in a decidedly female voice.

The easily understandable human speech _was_ something Bebe noticed, snapping her out of her trance. "What the hell… are you?" she said quietly. "And how do you know my name?"

The creature didn't know what to say in response to that. "Well, I… uh…"

Not even a few moments after the creature spoke again, her door was assaulted by six thumps one after the other. Evidently someone on the other side managed to turn the doorknob because two small girls, Lil and Emma, and four Pokémon of varying sizes fell through the door and landed in another pile on Bebe's floor. Bebe gawked at the sight, but the creature seemed amused. Behind them stood someone else Bebe knew, Danielle. She was cradling an Eevee in her arms who looked just as shaken as Bebe in that moment.

The Eevee waved at her, crying out in voice that she couldn't understand. _"Hello, nice lady!"_

"Hey there, Bebe," Danielle said with an awkward grin, walking through the door past the second pile of people of people and Pokémon that had formed on the floor over the last two minutes. "Don't mind us, we're just dropping off Aaron and we'll be on our way."

"That means us…" Lil and Emma said at the same time, trying to force the Ampharos off the top of them. That only seemed to make the Ampharos laugh.

Bebe blinked, glancing between Danielle and the strange creature. "Aaron? You mean… Aaron Grey? That boy who used to hang out around here years ago?"

All of those present including the Pokémon nodded, looking directly at the creature. Bebe slowly turned her head back to focus on the creature as well, her mouth agape as she understood the implications.

The creature lowered her head, chuckling nervously. "I think it was exactly four years ago that I kept on coming in here to pet your Eevee that you gave to Lucas… I never apologized for being so annoying, so I guess now is as good a time as ever."

Bebe, eyes wide and full of disbelief, slowly put her hand over her eyes and shook her head. "You've gotta be kidding me…"

* * *

"And that's basically how this all happened and how we got right here," Aaron finished explaining. At that time, Emma, Lil, and Danielle had left Bebe's house so now only Bebe, the transformed Aaron and his Pokémon entourage were left. Aaron was sitting in a wooden chair and his Pokémon were sitting around him.

Bebe had been meticulously taking notes on her computer the entire time Aaron spoke, but when Aaron stopped talking she took her hands off the keyboard. "Aaron… this is all really hard to believe, but I can't exactly deny what I'm seeing in front of me either." Surprisingly she found herself smiling. "Kind of an exciting paradox I suppose."

"Trust me, I know all of this sounds crazy. I've lived it for the past…" He paused, scratching his chin. "Well, really only the last day."

"You realize that by being the way you are right now, you're probably the biggest and greatest scientific discovery the world has ever known." Bebe stood up the chair and closed the window Aaron had dived through not even thirty minutes ago.

" _I'd say that she's right,"_ Zoey agreed.

" _Duuuuuh,"_ Sparks commented, stepping up next to Aaron directly gesturing toward his full body. _"I mean, anything that can have an amazing body like that and still be a Pokémon is pretty crazy!"_

"Ugh Sparks, stop it!" Aaron groaned, turning away from Sparks and crossing his arms to block the view of his breasts.

Bebe giggled when she saw this exchange. "Being able to understand Pokémon speech as if you were fluent in it... that part is also pretty incredible." She had a look of concern suddenly. "Have you been dealing with these changes OK or…"

Aaron sighed, putting his arms back down and facing Bebe. "Things… aren't too great. Being part Pokémon is one thing, but taking away my masculinity in a literal sense? That's a hard pill to swallow…"

While all the Pokémon showed sorrow on their faces Sparks looked to be the most guilty given what she had just said, sitting back down and looking downcast. _"Sorry, Aaron…"_

"It's fine, Sparks." Aaron consoled her by patting her on the head.

"I guess you've been taking it rough then," Bebe said, her voice full of pity. While Aaron didn't say anything right away, his other Pokémon were stirred by those words.

" _Guess we haven't really been much help,"_ Blaze commented, looking guilty herself.

" _It's all been in the interest of trying to keep things normal, but you're right. We've all been ignoring the problems this must be causing,"_ Rin said, deeply saddened too.

Eevee hopped into Aaron's lap and curled up there, prompting Zoey to rise to her feet and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah…" Aaron finally responded to Bebe, staring down at his own body. The alien feeling of being in a body he didn't recognize never fully went away even when he had tried to ignore it over the last twenty-four hours, but he was able to deal with it even when he had run into his old friends. Here in front of Bebe though, the gravity of his situation hit him like a truck. He clenched his fists, looking back up to meet Bebe's eyes with a pleading, desperate face. "I wanna be my old self again... more than anything."

Bebe nodded. "I understand…" She glanced over to the notes she took on her computer and back to Aaron, giving him a hopeful smile. "Don't you worry. You were out in the woods by yourself, but now you're safe and sound here." She winked. "Plus, you happen to be with someone who has a lot of helpful connections."

"And a working way to communicate beyond a stone's throw," Aaron said with a chuckle. The Pokémon around him also had a bit of a laugh. The situation need a bit of levity, so everyone decided to take it.

"Ha, yeah." Bebe turned back to her computer and saved her notes to a file on her desktop. "Hey, I just had a thought. You know how I maintain the Pokémon Storage System here in Sinnoh?"

"Yeah?" Aaron was confused as to why she would bring that up, but then he thought about it a little bit. "Wait… are you suggesting what I think you're suggesting?"

"Why not?" The blonde scientist opened her desk drawer and removes an original Pokéball from it. "It would be a way to gather some more data on you and you'd get to experience what all of your girls have experienced when they are in their Pokéballs."

" _Oooo! I love being in my Pokéball!"_ Sparks cheered. _"Getting to meet all of the other Pokémon that pass by is so cool!"_

" _Not me,"_ Blaze huffed. _"Training in a digital space isn't near as fun as actual sparring."_

" _We all know you pig out on Poké Puffs, Blaze,"_ Zoey snickered. All of the other girls and Eevee too joined in the laugh.

Blaze growled, shaking her head. _"I hate you all."_

Aaron was torn on this idea. On one hand, any information he could learn about his new body and how it works would only help him as he went forward trying to fix this mess he'd gotten himself into, but on the other hand…

"I'm not too sure how I feel about being captured by someone else," he said with obvious anxiety. "I don't even know if it's possible for something like me to be contained in a Pokéball… doesn't it have to register the Pokémon data in the Pokédex registry?"

"Well, yes… but this Pokéball is only rigged up to my local server here in my house," Bebe explained, pointing to the giant server that took up a whole corner of the house. "I use it for testing purposes, so you have no fear about your data being uploaded to the worldwide server if it even works at all."

"OK, thank goodness. So I guess there's also no fear of me… belonging to you then?" Aaron asked somewhat sheepishly.

"That's what you're concerned about here? What kind of monster do you take me for, Aaron?" Bebe laughed.

That reaction was just was Aaron needed to crack a smile again. "Just making sure. Who knows, I could be pretty enticing for a trainer... I guess you could say I'm a rare specimen."

" _Yeah, no crap,"_ Blaze said.

" _Some would say you're enticing for other reasons…"_ Rin said under her breath, Aaron lightly growling at her.

"Man, I wish I could understand what they were saying," Bebe said, turning to adjust setting for her personal server. "They aren't making fun of me, are they?"

" _Oh, Bebe… you wound me!"_ Sparks whined, crying fake tears.

" _There's nothing to make fun of. She's smart, pretty, and friendly!"_ Eevee said cutely.

"Awwwww, that was nice," Aaron said, patting the little guy on the head. "So I guess I'd be down for trying this out." Aaron reached over for the backpack Zoey was carrying, pulling out four Pokéballs, all of them different models. "That is if all of my girls can join me in there. I don't wanna be alone in there."

" _Big baby,"_ Blaze teased, still a little bit peeved from the others making fun of her, but still willing to crack a joke.

Eevee seemed freaked out by the prospect of entering the datascape. _"Uh… I don't have to do it, do I?"_

"Of course not," Aaron said reassuringly. "You can stay out here with Bebe."

"Little guy is scared, huh? I'm guessing that he's wild," the blonde scientist said, going over to her server rack and pulling out a cart she had sitting next to it. It had an odd machine with six half sphere shaped slots in it.

"Yeah," Aaron said, picking up Eevee and setting him on the ground. "Saved him when I was about to make the journey up Coronet only two days ago. Seems so long ago now…"

"I bet." Bebe smiled when she watched the little Eevee bound over to her, brushing against her leg. "You know I've got a soft spot for Eevee anyway."

"We took him in when we found out he was being followed by some shady guys. We don't exactly know why someone would be after him, but we decided it would be to travel together until we find out," the hybrid explained, shuffling around the Pokéballs in his hands.

Bebe was finishing her set up, the machine powering on with a blue light. "Oh boy, hope it's not another group seeking world domination… again."

"Hey, you never know. They could be looking to build an Eevee clone army to dominate the world with fluffy adorableness," Aaron joked, causing the entire room to burst into giggles.

" _Best apocalypse ever,"_ Zoey said. She looked down at her own Pokéball, the only original one in the group before looking back to her trainer and fellow Zoroark. _"Well, ready to go?"_

Aaron smiled. "Yeah… let's do it." First he grabbed the basic Pokéball, pointing it at Zoey. "Zoey, return." The red beam launched out of the ball and enveloped Zoey, her body disappearing just mere seconds and being absorbed into the ball.

Bebe sputtered, almost laughing out loud. "You know, I just witnessed a Zoroark returning another Zoroark into a Pokéball. It's pretty surreal."

Aaron could only shrug. Maybe things were finally gonna get better.

* * *

"Sir… the target is now inside of a local residence. Do we strike and get it out of there now?"

" _No, that would be too reckless. They've only just arrived. Give them a little time to relax and get comfortable… then we shall have our chance."_

There was a pause. "What do we do about the hybrid then?"

" _Try and capture it too when the time comes. There's no doubt that a specimen as perfect as that would be of use to us."_

"Roger. I'll prep the special unit."


End file.
